Parallel
by GoddessOfCalamity
Summary: The last time he saw her was seven months ago. He stood there, staring at the small back of his wife who's already very far away from them. That was the last time she told him that she loved him. After seven months without any news about her whereabouts, Sakura was been declared missing. Officially missing. Uchiha Sakura, his beloved wife; missing. ーSasuSaku (Canon-AU)
1. Prologue

**Prologue **

* * *

The last time he saw her was seven months ago.

She was walking at the huge gates of Konohagakure no Sato in her combat gear with a bag on her shoulder. Her pastel pink hair was nicely kempt, shoulder length locks were swaying back and forth dramatically— making her look like a goddess in a disguise of a kunoichi. Her emerald eyes shone bright and a warm smile plastered her beautiful face as she stood there looking at him with a loving gaze.

She walked to where he stood as she smiled even more widely at the young adolescent beside him.

"Sarada," she said in a motherly warmth.

She pulled the young adolescent in her arms who only hugged her so tightly as if she doesn't want to let the older woman to let her go. The woman only chuckled as she patted her head comfortingly. She's aware that her daughter was about to cry so she only kissed her forehead in affection and rubbed the child's back as if to soothe her.

"Mama," the young adolescent sniffled, her onyx eyes looked at her emerald ones with sadness that made the older woman shook her head with a sad smile.

"Sarada," she said once again, patting the child's head, "Mama is just a few countries away, don't be so sad, sweetie."

Sarada pouted adorably that the pinkette reminded her of the handsome man beside her daughter. She can't helped but to smile at the thought. Her daughter was really a carbon copy of her handsome husband.

"And that's the _problem_. A few countries, Mama! You said so!" she retorted, "And the worst is, you don't even know when are you going to be back. How come will _I_ not to feel so sad?"

The pinkette chuckled inwardly. Sarada might be the carbon copy of her powerhouse husband, but Sarada's handling of emotions were just like _her_ own.

Sarada is really their _beloved daughter_.

She pinched her daughter's soft cheeks and only grinned, "Come on, Sarada. You sounded like your Aunt now, she just told me the same thing too."

"It's because it's true!" Sarada snapped that made the older woman blinked in surprise, it's been a long time that her daughter really snapped at her, and she can see how desperate her daughter was. "Are you sure you're really leaving? I'm sure Papa can convince Nanadaime-sama to send someone else than you!"

She stared at the hysterical child of hers for a moment, and she slowly smiled _oh-so-softly_ that made the man beside Sarada to frown in silent.

That kind of _smile_. _He knew that_. It's a fake kind of reassurance smile that annoys him totally beyond— every stupid single time he's with her. Sasuke only frowned as he looked at his woman, feeling annoyed that she pulled a fake reassuring façade like that again.

_He doesn't like that smile. He really doesn't._

"Sakura," he called out to her which the said woman only looked at him with a hesitant smile.

"Anata, you already know that I can't forfeit this mission of mine. You can't change my mind." Sakura said with a warning tone, but yet still soft spoken, "I promise I will be back, I assure you alright?" she smiled.

He only stared at her without blinking. His intense mismatched orbs were piercing through her emerald ones, not caring about their daughter's presence who was just beside them.

"Do you really need to do it?" he asked blankly, his voice might be emotionless, but there's an anxiety in it— while it also churns inside his guts.

His wife only nodded once, "I _need_ to, Sasuke-kun." she said softly but there's seriousness in there, "Tsunade-shishou needs me and I need to be thereー"

"Then send me with you."

Sakura was taken aback by his answer which she only looked at him with a sad smile.

"No I-I can't, Sasuke-kun. Having someone to accompany me through this mission might endanger Tsunade-sama. This is my responsibility as her apprentice. Please believe me, Anata."

Sasuke's lips were pressed into a straight line. He closed his mismatched eyes for a moment and Sakura was sure that she saw her husband drawl out an air through his nose.

A sign that he was _not_ really _pleased_ at all.

"Sasuke-kuー"

"I got it," he replied, making Sakura felt so guilty, "Just...just be _careful_. We don't know what kind of enemy who abducted the older Senju. But I'm sure that they're formidable enemies, Sakura."

She licked her dry lips and nodded at her husband, "I..understand, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke nodded curtly and he looked at Sarada, "Sarada, say goodbye to your mother now."

"Papa, do you really think this is necessaー"

"Sarada," he warned and continued, "your mother is about to go now. Bid your farewell,"

His daughter bit her lower lip in frustration as she tried to keep her stupid tears at bay. Sarada can feel that she's about to burst like a volcano and how she wanted to scream in pure madness and frustration.

Her mother. Her _beloved mother_ was leaving. Leaving. For a very dangerous S-Rank mission, where she needs to save the former Fifth Hokage; Senju Tsunade from a rumored dangerous group of nukenins, the _**Red Funeral**_.

How could she think more clearly? If her mother's survival rate of that mission was fifty percent over one hundred? Her mother might be the strongest kunoichi alive in her generation, but her mother's _former master_, one of the _Legendary Sannin— _was been held captive by some gruesome nukenins. So that proves enough that those bastards were just so powerful to abduct the great female Senju. So how can her mother handle a full pack _of S-Rank Criminals' associate_?

How?

Sakura caressed her cheeks tenderly and kissed her forehead once again. She rested her lips there for a great twenty seconds and Sarada's eyes soften at her mother's apologetic gaze.

"Sarada, I promise I will be back. No matter what it cost." she said reassuringly, her emerald eyes were gleaming with pure determination as it clashed with Sarada's midnight orbs.

"Just believe in Mama okay? I will make sure to be back here right away with you and Papa." Sakura said with a motherly smile, patting her daughter's mop of dark head.

Sakura turned her gaze to her silent husband. She knew that her husband was number one against of the mission she's about to complete, just like Ino, Naruto and Sarada. But there's nothing she can do. The leader of the said group was demanding her presence if she want her Shishou to be safe and _alive_.

In other words, she's going to trade herself for her Shishou's safety. But there's no way Sakura will do that, she will make sure that she will think of a good plan how to get her Shishou without trading herself in her Shishou's place. The pinkette knew that the said associate were going to play _dirty_, and there's no way that they would let the Senju go that easily if Sakura will switch with her. Tsunade-shishou was a very important person, a _well notorious kunoichi_, every rogue nins will gladly to have her head just to trade it for a wholesome ryo.

So as Haruno Sakura, or _Uchiha Sakura_, the sole apprentice of Senju Tsunade who unlocked the Byakugou Seal will make sure to _save_ her Shishou _no matter what it costs_.

She will make sure that she will _accomplish_ her mission.

She will make sure she will be back to them...to her friends, to her _family_.

She will _make sure_ of it.

ーNo matter what it _costs_.

A pair of footsteps slowly padded through the ground and that's where emeralds met cerulean.

Sakura smiled warmly as if she was not having a dangerous mission ahead of her, and this made Sasuke clenched his sole fist on his side. He can sense the very familiar chakra of his best friend, walking to where the Uchiha family stood.

His blonde clean cut head was held high but his shoulders were slouched exhaustedly, he wore his Hokage suit and he had this defeated look on his face.

Aside from him, Naruto was also against at Sakura's dangerous mission. He almost _lost_ his sanity when the pinkette agreed _oh-so-determinedly_ at the mission. Just like Sasuke, he wanted Sakura to be safe. But then,

"Sakura-chan, you're really _leaving_?" he asked somberly, "You won't send Sasuke or Kakashi-sensei with yoー"

"No, Naruto," she interrupted her blonde best friend, "you can't stop me. I need to do this." her emerald eyes drooped, silently begging him with her eyes, "_Please_, Naruto. I promise you, believe me. I'm capable of _this_ mission. I will be fine."

Naruto was silent for a moment but he nodded once, finally.

"I believe in you, Sakura-chan. Pleaseー_please_," he clenched his fists and looked at Sakura with a serious look, "be alright. Come back with Tsunade-baachan to us, to _me_. Alright?"

Sakura looked at Naruto with warmth and affection in her beautiful features, she placed her palms gently at his whiskered cheeks and softly caressed it like a mother caressing her infant.

"I will. I'm sure of that. I promise, I will be back." she reassured, with her eyes drooping sadly, giving him a smile that doesn't reached her beautiful eyes.

_Her eyes_. Sasuke observed, was the very beautiful set of eyes that his eyes have ever set on. Bright emerald eyes, the eyes that expressed so many kinds of emotions to him. And now,

Just like _Naruto_, she had a defeated look also.

"Well then, Naruto. Please take care of your health okay? Give my regards to Hinata-chan, also to Ino. Don't worry, I will be back right away after this." she grinned and patted the Hokage's shoulder in a friendly manner.

Naruto returned the grin and he pulled his pink haired best friend into a very tight hug. "Just make sure, Sakura-chan! Don't break your promise, you get me? I can't handle an insane brooding Teme if there's _something bad_ happens to you! He might wipe out those so-called Red Funeral in a blink of his ocular eyes!"

A soft 'Idiot' escaped the Uchiha's lips and he only rolled his mismatched eyes, pocketing his sole hand in his black nin trousers.

A chuckle escaped his wife's fuller lips and this made Sasuke to assess her more. Sakura was really beautiful, his wife was really breathtakingly beautiful. He's lucky to have her in his gloomy life, and he's very glad to have her brighten his darkest path.

Without her, he's not sure how could he handle iー

"Sasuke-kun," she purred softly, walking in front of where he stood.

Sasuke blinked twice, his mismatched eyes gazed at his wife's features once again. He wants to imprint that loving gaze she always gave him in his mind, forever. And he will not forget that look whatever happens.

_Whatever happens_.

The Uchiha patriarch raised his right hand with his thumb, ring and pinky finger curled in his palm, his index and middle were poking out and about to touch her forehead with his kind of endearmー

But he was been stopped by a soft hand locking his wrist.

Sasuke blinked at Sakura and looking so baffled. Why on earth his wife was _stopping_ him?

"Sasuke-kun," she called once again with a sweet smile, she pulled his wrist with her inhuman strength and the Uchiha found himself being _hauled_ by his wife.

Hauled into a _very sweet kiss_. With her plump lips pressing into his, very sweet, very warm, soft and intoxicating. Her free hand caressed his jaw with affection and care, with love. Even though he's not a man who likes public display of affection, he doesn't mind at all just this once. Especially when his sworn best friend and daughter was there to witness them, he doesn't care if they were watching though. He just simply returned the kiss with equal fervor.

And Sasuke slowly closed his eyes as he savored the kiss of his beloved wife.

_His beloved wife_.

Sakura pulled away after a few moments. The Uchiha opened his eyes and was been greeted by her sweet sweet genuine smile, grazing her fuller lips.

"Now, that is your _kiss_ from me." she said with a giggle and she guided his wrist at her forehead, tapping his index and middle finger at her wide forehead, "And this is my forehead tap _from_ _you_. And this," Sakura raised her right hand, mimicking his kind of endearment, tapping her index and middle finger on his forehead, "is my forehead tap _for you_. It says _'I love you too'_, Sasuke-kun."

He can't help but his lips twitched upwards, a soft smile grazing his lips.

_I know. I am too, Sakura. _

"Take care of yourselves okay? Don't forget to eat nutritious foods!" she said chirply, grinning so widely. "Promise me you will not do something stupid while I'm gone, alright? And you Sarada, don't overstretch yourself on your trainings okay? Don't give your Papa a headache! And Naruto, stop slacking and finish your paper works on time and please look after my beloved brooding husband for me while I'm gone."

Naruto grinned widely and gave her a thumbs up, "Roger that, Sakura-chan!"

Sarada nodded with a smile, "I understand, Mama."

Sakura looked at her husband with a loving smile, "Please be alright okay? Promise me you won't do anything stupid,"

Sasuke smirked at his wife, "I must say the same thing for you, _my beloved stubborn wife._" he said, earning a hundred shades of pink adorning Sakura's cheeks. He smirked even more, already pleased.

"Mou! _Stubborn_," she murmured with a pout, "you are much_ worse_ than me, Anata."

"Hn."

"Whatever!" she rolled her eyes and winked at the three ninjas that she very love so dearly, her bright mood slowly diminishing. "I guess this is it," she said softly, "I need to go now."

Naruto nodded with a small smile, "Take care, Sakura-chan. If there's something might happen, don't hesitate to send us a summon okay?"

"I will," she smiled.

"Mama, I love you very much." Sarada said sadly, hugging her mother once again.

"I love you too, Sarada. Very much."

"Please...please come back right away when you're done okay? Please be safe, Mama."

Sakura gave her daughter her forehead tap and hugged her tight once again, "Don't worry, I will. I promise."

She broke the hug and Sakura faced her husband, "I'll be going now, Sasuke-kun."

"Aa."

Sakura forced a smile and she slowly stepped back, holding the strap of her bag. "I love you, Sasuke-kun. Please take care."

The three ninjas stared at the back of the walking kunoichi, as it got farther and farther in their sad visions.

Sasuke _swore_ to himself that letting Sakura go just like that will be his _greatest lamentation_. His very strongest regret..

ーwas to _let her go_, walking to the den of dangerous lions alone.

He stood there, staring at the small back of his wife who was already very far away from them.

And the last time he saw the Uchiha crest that adorned her back proudly, carrying his name with her. Carrying his whole heart with her.

That was the last time she told him that _she loved him_.

And that was the last time that they saw her. And after seven months without any news about her whereaboutsー Sakura was been declared_ missing_.

_Officially missing_.

_Uchiha Sakura_, his beloved wifeー _missing_.

* * *

_**A/N: Guys, here is the prologue. I didn't change anything that much and the original prologue was still intact. I'm going to look over the mistakes on the other chapters that I'm going to re-upload later on so please be patient with me. *groans* This site just gave me a real headache, I couldn't access myself to my old account so that's why I have no choice but to create a new one to upload stories again. I would say it was really been a long time, and I almost forgot that many people were waiting for me to update a new chapter which I haven't done so because of my very busy schedule. But nevermind that though, I'm back on track again and I'll gonna upload new chapters of this story. I know many readers here were anticipating what's the outcome of this story, so I'll do my best to update immediately. Don't forget to review guys! Constructive criticism is open~**_

_**Revised from way back October 10, 2017**_

_**—SpringfieldOfCherryBlossoms**_


	2. Chapter I

_**A/N: I'm back again everyone. SpringfieldOfCherryBlossoms is here! I didn't change anything in this chapter, it was still the same to the original chapter one of Parallel in my other FF account (It was SpringfieldOfCherryBlossoms if you wish to check it out— that was abandoned btw).**_

_**I do not own Naruto and the characters of this story, but I do solely owned the plot of this story. **_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

**Chapter One**

**Waning Hope and Family**

* * *

Rays of sunlight were peeking through the shoji doors of the residence of Uchiha. Birds were chirping melodiously with the breeze of air kept pushing the noisy wind chimes that were hanging at the top of the veranda of the Uchiha household.

A certain Uchiha was looking at the calmness of the household's garden, with him sitting at the cold wooden floor in an indian seat position. His sole hand was resting at his right thigh and he rested his back at the shoji doors behind him.

It's been a long time that he's been this lonely once again. It's not that he was totally lonely, but with his daughter still asleep in her room and with him being the sole awake all over the houseー he was completely _alone_.

In the past few months, when he completed his longtime decade mission. At an early morning like this, he would always sense the familiar chakra of his wife; either in their kitchen, living room or in their garden. She even always hum an old lullaby song that it sometimes lulled him to sleep. Which it was also a reminiscent behavior that made him thought of his deceased mother, Mikoto.

With her wife's powerful yet warm chakra, when he found it with his basic sensory skills, it always made him feel at ease. He can always feel the serenity and calmness when she's there beside him, with the warmth and confidence she always exude with her beautiful toothy smiles and cheerful laughs that made his whole day complete.

But now, the Uchiha patriarch _cannot_ sense that familiar warmth of chakra anymore.

The last time he saw her was like seven months ago, and until now his wife was still missing in action. Just like what he always thought since from the beginning, it was really dangerous to send her alone. But because of his wife's hardheadedness and persistence of sending her alone to the mission, even though Sasuke has a right to stop her, there's nothing he could do just to persuade her.

_No, stop it._ He shook his head in denial. _She's alright, she promised._

A voice at the back of his mind replied at him,

_But promises are meant to be broken, isn't it Sasuke?_

He clenched his sole hand into a tight fist.

_Sakura is not a person who simply broke promises into nothing._

He kept on staring at the daffodil flowers that his wife planted in their quite wide garden. The flowers were swaying back and forth altogether with the current of the wind, and he kept staring at them as if there's something interesting in them.

Actually, it's not the flowers that interests himー but the _old memory_ of his dear wife humming while watering her plants.

Sasuke didn't noticed, but his right eye flashed into red as he gander at the plants. Last seven months ago, when his wife was watering her beloved daffodils, he memorized it with his infamous _Sharingan_.

For him, seeing her happily watering the plants makes her even more delicate and beautiful that it even makes his heart beats so very fast that he really can't explain.

With her back faced to him, making the uchiwa fan being visible to his line of vision, it made him smile unknowingly at the beautiful sight he's memorizing with his kekkei genkai. For him, it was a sight to behold.

With his patient and beautiful wife watering the plants who looked at her shoulder and offering him a sweet loving smile. Uchiha Sasuke almost **lost** it.

Even though she was _only_ a fragment of some _memories_ that was been copied by his Sharingan. He can't help but to pretend that what he was seeing right now is _real_.

A soft padding of steps can be heard closing to where Sasuke was sitting. Sasuke only closed his eyes as he drop his kekkei genkai off, turning his head to look at the person who's yawning with her mouth open.

"Papa." she said a little bit groggily, yawning. "Good morning."

"Morning," Sasuke replied with a nod, turning his head back to look at the innocent daffodils in their garden. "Sit, Sarada."

Sarada did what her father told her. She sat beside her brooding father and took scrutinizing glances at the man beside her. Somehow, when she kept looking at him like that, she can't help but to admire her father's regal features and the calmness that he always _possessed_ー he composed himself so well and he's too collected. Her father might be intimidating and stoic, but it's only a part of his charm. A hereditary Uchiha trait.

_Cool and very collected._ She wants to be like that too.

There's many things she had found similar to her father. Aside from being stoic, he's also aloof. An aloofness that she also gotten from him. She also got his dark colorings (an Uchiha gene), which she got the color of his hair, the color of his eye and the fairness of his skin.

Even though she possessed the features of her father (with the black colorings and such). She also possessed the roundness of her face, her cat-liked eyes and her bubbly behavior from her mother, of course.

_Mother.._

"Sarada? Are you hungry?"

The Uchiha heiress blinked in utter confusion when she was finally came back from her temporal stupor. Seeing the face of her Papa looking at her with the intention of knowing her answer either she's hungry or not.

.

.

.

But because she was hardly listening to her father because of getting distracted, she only laughed oh-so sheepishly, making the Uchiha patriarch raised a confused eyebrow at her.

"Oh. Sorry Papa. I didn't hear you at all, would you please repeat that?"

"Hn. You're totally out of your conscious, aren't you?" Sasuke shifted his back on the shoji doors behind him, looking at her at the corner of his eye. "I asked you if you're hungry,"

"Oh," Sarada blinked, scratching the back of her head that she got from her mother if she felt embarrassed. "No. Not really, Papa. I am not hungry at all." she smiled at her Papa with warmness that made Sasuke froze at his position, "I can sense that you still haven't eat breakfast yet. We can eat together later on, Papa."

Sasuke stared at his daughter for a moment, then he slowly nodded, leaning his back to the shoji doors with a tired expression.

"Aa."

"Nee, Papa." she called out to him with a cheerful smile, "I forgot to tell you that Grandma Mebuki called last night. And she told us if we can visit them with Grandpa for dinner!" she did a twirling finger as she talk which a reminiscent habit she got from her mother when talking, "And I can tell that Grandma's won't take a 'no' for an answer, so I only told her that we're going."

"We're going." he said with a slight quirk of his thin lips, that Sarada recognized; was her Papa's style of smiling.

The Uchiha heiress only smiled brightly and rested her head at her father's shoulder. At first, Sarada thought that her father would brush her off, but she found that her father doesn't mind it at all. In all honesty, her father's shoulders slumped a little bit into relaxation and shifted his torso so that her head will fit into his left shoulder.

"Papa.."

"Aa?"

Sarada chewed her bottom lip in nervousness, like she was controlling her emotions at bay. Sasuke, being a clever and observant man as always, he sensed the discomfort and nervousness of his daughter. He glanced at her and give her a slight nudge, "What is it?" he said carefully.

"I.." she grasped the sleeve of his shirt, having some second thoughts either she will tell it to her father or not. She knew that talking about _her_ was a sensitive topic to the Uchiha patriarch. And even though her Papa was an expert of hiding his real emotions, she can tell that the disappearance of her Mama was taking a huge toll on him.

And now that many months had passed and her Mama was still missing without any traces of her everywhere in the shinobi worldー she can feel that their _hope_ for finding her mother were somewhat _thinning_.

_No. Don't think about it, Sarada._ She scolded her mind. _Believe in them._

With a deep breath and slowly looking at her father's understanding gaze, she finally spoke.

_Papa knows what I'm thinking, and he's having the same thought as mine._

"I..I missed Mama." she said with finality in her slight quivering voice.

Sarada felt her father stiffened beside her again, but now she can feel the _tension_.

She slowly shook her head and continued, "I know that it's already long for her to be missing, and our hopes for finding her were somewhat thinning."

"Sarada."

"I know that as _her_ daughter, I need to be strong. That's what she always told me. I need to be strong no matter what in any kind of circumstances, just for her and for Papa." she said and she started to blabber somewhat panically, "But I'm afraid that one dayー"

"Saraー"

"we will be informed that Mama's gonー"

"_Sarada_," Sasuke hissed, sending her daughter a grave look and this made Sarada to stop in her panic, "stop it." he said softly, his serious expression turned into solemn.

"Papa, sorry. It's justー"

"Stop apologizing. There's no point if you," he gave his daughter a pointing glance, "or weー go panic about the disappearance of your mother." he said and looked at the garden once again, "The right thing to do for now is to wait."

The young Uchiha felt her chest tightened at her father's statement, making her utterly snapped on the inside. Her few months of frustration began to bubble inside of her.

"_Wait_? You know that it's already _seven months_ that she's been _missing_ right? And we still doesn't have _proof_ orー" she clenched her fists, "ーor _any_ _information_ if she's still alive or not! What kind of crap are you talking about, Papa? Right thing to do is to _wait_? Are you kidding me?!" she snapped, glaring at her father who only refused to look at her.

"It's useless to do foolish things, Sarada. You know that." Sasuke replied aloofly, glancing at her with a serious narrowing of his eyes, "Rushing things might endanger all of us. And just like what you have said, we still doesn't have any kind of information of Sakura's whereabouts. We can't go searching for her without having some kind of traces of wherever she is right now. You know that's a reckless thing to do,"

Sasuke sighed almost exasperatedly that made Sarada slumped her shoulders in defeat. She knew how complicated the situation was and she can't help but to agree with her father once more.

Sarada was kind of persistent. Ever since she found out about her mother's disappearance, she almost burst in panic and went into tantrums just to convince her Papa or Nanadaime-sama to go after her Mama and save her. But just like the Hokage had told her almost in umpteenth times everytime she threw a tantrum:

_Sarada, we're doing our best to search for Sakura-chan. No need to worry! We will find her, I promise!_

But Sarada knew that aside from cheering her of his optimistic remark, she can tell that the Hokage was also telling that to cheer himself too. Because just like her and her Papa, Nanadaime-sama was also losing his hope for finding her Mama.

_Seven months is already too much. If they still won't find her after the end of this year..._

**Her Mama will be declared death in absentia.**

Because in the shinobi world, one year of being _missing in action_ without any kind of _traces_ of his/her whereabouts will be marked as _**dead**_ by the Kages.

She can feel her tears bubbling at the corner of her eyes in horror, but she shook her head in disagreement.

_No! We can't lose hope yet! We will find her! _

Determination dawned over her aristocratic features as she looked at her father who's already sulking and sighing.

"Naruto have already sent many troops of shinobi to get some information about the whereabouts of that rumored nukenin association that held your mother and the Godaime captive." he said reassuringly and continued, "Just a little bit more, Sarada. We will find your mother."

"I know,"

"Just trust me. As long as I live. I will find your mother, safe and alive. I promise."

She nodded with a forced smile, "Thank you, Papa."

He glanced at his daughter and gave her a slight pat on the head, "Don't forget that Naruto is helping us finding Sakura's whereabouts. With him as our ally, we have a big chance of finding your mother, safe and sound." he gave her a tender look with a slight quirk of his lips, "Just trust the both of us, Sarada. We'll find her. I promise."

"Okay, Papa."

* * *

"Sarr-rada," Akimichi Cho Cho chewed a mouthful of her tenth yakisoba bun, her amber eyes lazily fell on the young Uchiha beside her who's purchasing different kinds of fruits. Like oranges, apples, pears, peach and etc., making the Akimichi looked at her with a baffled look.

With a gulp of her yakisoba bun, she asked.

"Sarada, why are you buying some new fresh fruits? Are you gonna eat that? Can we eat it?" she looked at her expectantly and excitedly, "Can we?"

Sarada paid the old lady with a smile and some enough ryo's for the purchased fruits she bought. She gave the old lady a friendly 'thank you' as she turned her head to regard Cho Cho.

"Sorry Cho Cho, but these fruits is for Grandma and Grandpa. We're visiting them tonight for a dinner."

Cho Cho's eyes slightly widen, "Really? So you're having a dinner date with your grandparents then. Is your father will be with you?"

She nodded, holding the bag of fruits with her arms, "Yep! Papa will come with me, Cho Cho. And tonight is special. It's my first time having Papa to our dinner dates with Mama's parents. And somehow, I'm excited!" she smiled at the brunette happily, her eyes crinkling in an unadulterated enthusiasm.

The Akimichi patted the Uchiha's shoulder in a familiar way, she knew how excited Sarada was to have some bonding moments with her long time missing father but she knew there was still _someone_ missing.

"I'm happy for you, Sarada." she greeted and continued, "But are you not going to taste that? Even just one apple or something?" she took a peek at the fruits Sarada's holding.

With a sigh, she started to offer one. "Alright just this once, Cho Cho. Get one,"

Cho Cho's face brightened, reaching her chubby hands to grab an apple inside the bag.

"Thank you, Sarada!" she thanked the Uchiha heiress immediately, "You know how I love fresh crispy apples! I owe you another potato chips!"

Sarada laughed momentarily as she shook her head and replied, "I know, I know." she began moving her feet and looked at Cho Cho, "Let's get going now, Cho Cho. I need to be in the house at five so that I can prepare for our visit with my grandparents."

Munching with her new apple, Cho Cho nodded, "Mmm. Right. Lesh 'go, Shar'da."

* * *

"I'm home!" Sarada chirped at the entrance of the Uchiha residence, she began stripping off her nin-sandals at ease and putting it on the side neatly.

She ran her way through the kitchen and she settled down the bag of fruits to the table. A few moments later, a soft padding of footsteps trudged forward to the kitchen, making the young Uchiha smiled so very widely as she saw her father walking towards her.

"Hello, Papa."

"Welcome home, Sarada." Sasuke greeted his daughter with a curt nod, his mismatched eyes landed to the brown paper bag which consists of fruits. "Is that fruits?"

"Oh yes, Papa! It is. Grandma loves assorted fruits, so I decided to buy some for her and for Grandpa too."

"I see," Sasuke looked at his daughter for a moment and he shifted his gaze to the cupboards, searching for his favorite bags of tea, "You better get ready now. We're leaving after you're done."

Sarada nodded in agreement and didn't say anything at all. She knew that her Papa was not a talkative person so she only made her way through her room and started to strip off her clothes to get a warm pleasing shower.

The young Uchiha was able to get everything done in just forty-five minutes. She took her shower in thirty and she searched for nice clothes in five, and she groomed herself to be presentable in ten. So it totalled forty-five minutes all. She guided herself on the way to the living room and not that long; she spotted her father, reading some scrolls in his sole hand.

"Papa? I'm done." Sarada said.

Sasuke craned his neck to looked at her as he stood and packing his scrolls back to it's respected place. Sasuke did some hand seals with his sole hand, making Sarada to look at him with utter fascination.

"You can do seals with only one hand, Papa?" she asked curiously, her midnight orbs were widening expectantly.

_Ah, right. That's a dumb question, Sarada. Your father lost an arm, how the hell he could do hand seals with two hands, huh? You're getting dumber like Boruto now? _Sarada scolded herself in her mind, feeling quite annoyed at her stupid question to her father. _Much worse, Papa would possibly disregard my question because it's too stupid. _

"Aa," he nodded curtly.

Sarada blinked out of surprise. Well, she didn't expect him to answer that stupid question of hers though.

When Sasuke was done sealing his important scrolls on a secret place where he and Sarada only knows, he walked towards his daughter and gave her a glance. He scrutinized her appearance for a moment. His mismatched eyes landed on her hair and his hand weaved through her slightly damp hair, tucking a handful of bangs to her ear. Sarada blinked at this gesture.

"You look good when you tuck your bangs to the side, it suits you very well."

She blushed a little bit, "Y-you think so?"

"Hn,"

"Mou, that's not even a _'yes'_ or _'no'_, Papa. But I will let it pass for now."

"Aa."

She frowned, "Papa, how the hell does Mama can talk with you with your monosyllabic response?"

He glanced at her for a moment, holding the bag of fruits in his sole arm.

"I don't know." he said truthfully and impassively, making his way through their foyer.

Sarada followed her father, "Are you always like this?" she asked and she grimaced momentarily, "I hope Mama didn't pummel you when you talk like that to her. She don't like it when someone is rude to her while conversing. As you know, Mama is kind of a chatty woman." she mumbled.

"I'm aware." Sasuke replied, putting his nin-sandals in his feet, "But no, she didn't. Your mother don't pummel me just like what you mentioned. She do the talking; while me, I listen. She's used to it,"

The young Uchiha imitated her father as she slid her small feet inside her nin-sandals.

"Good for you then, Papa. Looks like Mama has really a big soft spot on you. She's madly in-love."

He smirked at his daughter and the both of them made their way outside, locking their home securely.

"She really is." he said, his lips curling upwards in a supressed smile.

Sarada smiled so widely, beaming at Sasuke with pure enthusiasm, "You're madly in-love with Mama too, right?"

The Uchiha blinked for a second, looking at his daughter surprisingly.

He nodded slowly and finally uttered, "Aa."

"That's good!" she replied cheerfully, flashing the older Uchiha with her bright bright smile, "So let's think of the positive, ne, Papa?" she looked at him and smiled, "We will find Mama no matter what."

"Don't worry. We will."

She nodded optimistically, pumping her fist on the air and shouted, "Mhm! That's right, shannaro!"

Sasuke glanced at his daughter and he can't help but to smile at her familiar antics. Sarada smiles like _her_ with also the mix of his mother (afterall, Sasuke inherited his mother's flawless features). She even behaves like _her_. And his daughter's mannerisms were just so similar to _hers_. And everything what he saw to his daughter was _full of her_.

Her. Sakura, _his wife_.

Sarada is everything just like _Sakura_.

Sarada is like _Sakura_.

* * *

_Ding! Dong!_

"Mebuki dear, that might be them."

"Oh!" the older woman looked at her husband for a second, "It might be them, Kizashi. They're early!" she said gleefully.

The old man named Kizashi replied with a goofy grin, shrugging his shoulders in a most lazily common way.

"Well, what can you say? They're punctual. _Unlike_ us, Mebuki." he laughed kind of gruffly to his wife and continued, "Haruno's a big slacker when it comes to punctuality. I'm glad Sakura-chan didn't got it from us,"

Mebuki rolled her eyes tiredly, "Don't get me wrong, dear. It was you who's a big slacker here. And I'm not a Haruno in blood and I hate being late. So don't mention me being unpunctual. It was only you."

The old Haruno patriarch sighed, "You're being mean to me, honey. Just give me some credit. We're family aren't we?"

She shook her head and smiled at her husband, "You're really hopeless, dear. Well..."

_Ding! Dong!_

"They're getting impatient." the older woman said under her breath, "Just a second!" she called out as she wiped her palms on her yellow apron.

The Haruno matriarch scampered her way through the door of their residence, opening the door with a soft 'click' sound.

"Grandma!"

"Oh, Sarada!" Mebuki beamed enthusiastically as she enveloped her granddaughter into a very tight hug, "Sarada dear! I missed you so much!"

Sarada hugged her grandmother in return, smiling through their embrace.

"I missed you too, Grandma. Sorry for not visiting you and Grandpa, I was busy andー"

"Nah dear!" she admonished with a wide smile in her already aging face, "Grandma understand! I know how it works and I know it's very troublesome. So don't worry."

Sarada smiled, "Thank you, Grandma."

Haruno Mebuki's eyes landed to the silent Uchiha patriarch who's standing behind Sarada with a bag of fruits on his arm. She offered him a tender motherly smile as she gestured to the both of them to get in.

"Sarada, Sasuke. Get in both of you. It's cold outside,"

The both Uchiha's didn't say anything as they only nodded and followed the Haruno matriarch inside the house.

"Sarada-chan!" Kizashi enveloped Sarada into a warm bear hug while Sarada laughed in glee.

"Grandpa! Long time no see! How are you doing?" she asked her grandfather in enthusiasm, making the old man pat her head in a fatherly manner.

"Well, your great Grandpa is getting old, kiddo!" he let out a gruff laugh, his eyes crinkling in pure happiness as he looked at his granddaughter, "But admit it, your Grandpa is still looking young and handsome as ever!"

"Really now, Kizashi?" Mebuki rebutted playfully, helping Sasuke putting the fresh fruits on a basket, "Stop cracking jokes to Sarada-chan will you? It's bad to tell lies to a child, dear."

Kizashi pouted, trying to feign hurt at his wife's playful rebuttal.

"My love Mebuki, even though you won't _admit_ it to me." Kizashi's cobalt blue eyes landed on his wife and tried to do a suave pose, "I knew that you got more in-love with me in every second and minute. You can't resist my beauty. Heck I'm even more handsome than Sasuke-boy, y'know that!"

Sasuke only blinked as he looked at Kizashi with a dumbfounded look. Sarada only laughed while Mebuki snorted back to her corny husband.

"You're hopeless, Kizashi. Even if the world will go upside down, you're still no match to Uchiha's natural aristocratic features. No puns intended."

The Haruno patriarch's eyes widen, "Mebuki! You're so mean! I'm still the most honorable man you got married into! And I _fought_ for a _thousands_ just to get you! So as your beloved loyal husband, choose me!"

Mebuki sighed in total exasperation, shaking her head.

"You're overreacting, dear. You didn't fought a thousands just to get me. To be honest, you just swooped me off and asked for my hand in marriage. No chivalry drama happened. We're only civilians, honey."

Sarada laughed as the old man only crossed his arms over his bulky wide chest, sulking at the sofa he's sitting.

"I swear, Mebuki. You're being too harsh on me." he murmured.

"Oh no, darling. I'm not." she laughed gleefully, shaking her head and continued, "I'm just only kidding okay? Don't take it all the way to your heart, dear."

The Haruno patriarch sighed, "Oh well.."

Sarada sat next to her grandfather and shot him a very wide toothy grin as she started to cheer him up, "You know what, Grandpa? You're still handsome as ever! Believe me."

Mebuki snorted at this and Sasuke only smiled a little with a slight quirk of his lips. Kizashi looked at his one and only beautiful granddaughter and enveloped the young girl to his massive bear hug.

"Uwaaaaah! My little girl! I'm so glad that you appreciated great grandpa's features! Thank you, kid!"

"Well, it's a very good thing that Sarada was back to being bubbly again." the woman said, her slightly drooping darker emerald eyes gazed up to Sasuke's stoic obsidian ones, "After all these months with my daughter still missing, I'm just glad that you're here to look after Sarada and to guide her also, Sasuke."

"She's...my daughter." he looked at the matriarch who's only anticipating his answer, "And I will do everything just to protect her. Even if it would cost my entire life."

Mebuki smiled, reaching her wrinkly hand to Sasuke's face, cupping it with her palm in a gentle motherly manner.

"That's good to hear, my child. Just don't lose hope on finding Sakura okay?"

Sasuke nodded with a brief smile adorning his thin lips.

"Of course, Mother."

Mebuki smiled widely, "Very well then. Let's eat? I knew you were always this early and very punctual, so I make sure to prepare these foods a lot more early for dinner."

"Sorry if it causes you troublー"

Mebuki shook her head in disapproval.

"Tsk. Oh no, Sasuke. Rest assured, dear. You're not a trouble at all, we're family remember?" she said while scampering her way to the dining table, checking the utensils and food.

"And besides, it's been a long time that you managed to eat with us again. So let's make this special alright?" she continued with a warm smile, making Sasuke to feel at home once again.

"Aa. Thank you,"

"Oiiiiiiii, Sasuke-boy!" Kizashi draped an arm around his shoulders, "Long time no see! I see, you're still looking youthful as always huh? I really do envy you, kid!"

"Aish! Stupid, stop that will you?" Mebuki rebutted and gave her husband an irritated scowl, gesturing her hand for Sarada to come closer, "Sarada-chan, please take your seat now. Let's eat. Come here, child. And you Kizashi, stop bothering Sasuke-kun will you?" she scolded with her hands on her hips.

The Haruno patriarch only sighed, "I got it. Geez Mebuki, you're always so serious. That's why you got more wrinkles than mine." he mumbled.

Mebuki's eyes narrowed into slits, glancing at him dangerously.

"I heard that, Kizashi. Would you repeat that?"

"Oh no! Mebuki!" Kizashi chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head, "Sarada-chan is starving!" he looked at the confused Uchiha heiress, offering her a nervous smile. "Right, Sarada-chan? You're hungry right?"

"Well, um.. Grandpa.."

Sasuke cleared his throat, "Mother, did you prepare some tomatoes for me?"

Mebuki's face brightened right away, the menacing aura of hers was vanished in a second, making Kizashi to sigh in pure relief.

"Here you are, Sasuke-kun." she put a plate of fresh red cherry tomatoes on the table, her anger for her husband already forgotten as she smiled oh-so motherly, "Let's eat?"

"How's your team going, Sarada-chan?"

Sarada turned her head to her grandmother politely, lowering her chopsticks on her bowl.

"We're doing good, Grandma." Mebuki nodded and she continued, "But sometimes our lower rank missions was kind of annoying though. We chase some runaway cats, we clean garden and get rid of weeds and such and we also escort some civilians to another places and many more."

The Haruno matriarch chuckled, shaking her head as she spoke.

"Well, I kind of remember your mother when she was still a genin like you, dear." she said with a distant look, staring at the food in front of her, "She used to whine about how annoying their lower rank missions before." her emerald eyes landed to the unaware Uchiha patriarch who only ate his food one-handedly in silence, "But as far as I remembered, _'As long as I can be with Sasuke-kun, all the annoyance will be forgotten.'_, and that was your mother's favorite sentence, Sarada-chan."

Sasuke halted in his bearings as he looked up, meeting the smiling face of Haruno Mebuki and Kizashi.

"Really?" Sarada said in surprise, "Is Mama really smitten to Papa before?"

Mebuki shrugged, almost nonchalantly. "Well she is," she said and continued, "But who would have thought that my daughtー"

Suddenly, a poof of white smoke appeared at the Haruno's living room, making Mebuki to shriek in utter surprise. Making her aluminum chopsticks fell to the table with a clang.

"Sasuke," a familiar monotone voice called out to the Uchiha with a little bit urgency lacing on it's tone.

"Sai," the Uchiha acknowledged with a slight nod with his head, "what's your business here?"

Sai stepped forward as the white smoke that surrounds him had vanished, "Naruto wants you to come with me to his office. It's urgent."

"Urgent?"

"Yes." he responded with a nod and continued, "It's about the nukenin organization who held the Godaime captive. And speaking about the Godaime, she was already safe and resting at the hospital."

"Kiba's team had managed to find their secret hideout at the outskirts of Amegakure and successfully infiltrated the area. The mastermind of that group is in our custody right now and was been interrogated by Shikamaru and the others. You're needed there, Sasuke."

"I understand." Sasuke stood in his seat with an unreadable expression adorning his face, "Let's go."

"Wait, Papa!" the young Uchiha stood right away, holding her father's sole arm in a tight grip. "I'm coming with you!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at his daughter disapprovingly, "Sarada, you know that this is an adult business. You caー"

"Please!" Sarada persisted, her obsidian eyes pierced through Sasuke's identical ones in seriousness, her hold in his arm tightened in a fraction. "I know you're dying to know about Mama's whereabouts, Papa! And as _her_ daughter I'm coming with you! I have the right to know!"

The Uchiha patriarch took a deep breath, trying to control his patience. "Saradaー"

"Sasuke, we're coming too." Mebuki spoke for the first time, her hand reaching out to hold her husband's huge calloused hand. "We're family here, Sasuke. Don't shoulder everything alright? We want to know if our daughter is fine, so please let us come with you."

Sasuke looked at them, trying to assess their emotions through their facial expressions. And as he saw their hopeful gazes deeply rooted on himー with an another last deep breath, he finally nodded with a resigned look in his face, looking as if he was _worried _about something.

Sasuke's instincts was never been wrong. Aside to Sai's confession about the successful infiltration at Amegakureー he hadn'tmention _anything _about Sakura at all. So in other words, even just basing through simple common sense, he can tell that Sakura was still _missing_.

And in addition to that— when Mebuki mentioned about Sakura, Sai's sudden defeated look says it all.

"Well then. Let's go."

But then, Sasuke will still hope.

* * *

_A/N: Don't forget to review and tell me your thoughts about it. Constructive criticism is also open~ _

_Revised from way back October 10, 2017_

_—SpringfieldOfCherryBlossoms_


	3. Chapter II

_**There's some things I want to clarify to the readers here:**_

• _**This story takes after the Boruto The Movie.**_

• _**And this is a canon and soon to be AU fanfiction. (Canon-AU)**_

• _**And let's be real; not all the times that Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura or whoever ninjas we used to know who's very strong before in the Shippuden are still be **__**strong**__** in this story. Come on, people gets old**__**ー **__**and they were adults, they're still strong but it's better if I put some things that can weaken them. Even though they are powerhouse ninjas, they're still human. (And I want originality and I want new things. I want them to face another conflict to their selves, especially to Naruto, Sasuke and Sarada)**_

• _**And this story is already been planned until to it's end. Whether you like it or not, Sakura's powerlessness and absence in the early chapters is absolutely needed to this story.**_

• _**And they are facing a new entity here. I don't want to spoil anyone of you, but you will know what it is in this new chapter. (So you better read it! Mwahaha!)**_

_**I do not own Naruto and the characters in this story! Enjoy!**_

* * *

**Chapter Two**

**New Hope, Complications and Confusions**

* * *

"Sasuke." the blonde greeted in recognition.

"Naruto."

"It's a good thing that you're already here." he looked at him, walking forward to regard Sasuke, "We're actually waiting for yoー _oh._" Naruto halted in his bearings as he noticed the people behind the Uchiha's back.

_Sakura-chan's parents. _Said Naruto in his thoughts.

"Nanadaime-sama." Mebuki greeted, trying to force a smile in her aging face, moving next to the Uchiha to bow politely at the blonde hokage. "Please forgive us for being here without your permission, but we just wanted to know if you have already found some new information about my daughter, my lord."

"No. Don't apologize, Auntie. It's okay."

"If that's so. Then may I know if where she is?"

Naruto's face turned to solemn as he looked at Mebuki. He have no idea of what kind of reassurance will he gonna offer to his old teammate's family and it even hurts him while seeing their hopeful gazes on him. Sarada even looked at him with a fixed stare, anticipating his answer to that question.

"Actually, Aunt Mebuki..." he started, contemplating on what to say next to the older woman. "Weー"

"Oi, Naruto!"

A running Shikamaru was on his way to them. And when he got more closer to where they stood, his lazy eyes slightly widen as he saw Sakura's family with Naruto. They looked to each other for a moment like they were passing messages through their eyes. And after a second, with a curt nod he finally looked at the others with an air of authority.

"Everything is all set for the interrogation." the Nara spoke as he eyed the older Uchiha with a knowing look, "In all honesty, we started asking simple questions to Sugino Takeo without you there. But now that you're here Sasuke, we can start the interrogation to the leader of Red Funeral."

"It's fine and I understand. Let's go." Sasuke was about to walk when the gruff voice of Haruno Kizashi called out to them, halting them.

"We are..." he asked hopefully, looking to Sasuke until his cobalt eyes landed to Naruto. "We're allowed to come right?"

As the Haruno patriarch said that; without hesitation, Naruto shot them a smile and nodded. Making the both parents to sigh in relief and smiled back at him in gratitude.

"Thanks, kid."

"You are always welcome."

Shikamaru turned his head to them, "So shall we?"

* * *

"You are kind of persistent, aren't you?"

"Hah!" the huge man almost laugh in a mockingly manner, his beady eyes glared at the blonde Yamanaka in distaste.

"Even though I have a thing for blonde women," he commented with a sardonic laugh, "I still much prefer that pink haired kunoichi though. She's a _feisty_ one, and I love how powerful she thrashed underneath me."

"You sick motherfuckeー!" Ino tried to punch the daylights out of the ugly man but was been stopped by a white-haired man.

"Easy there, Ino. He's just messing up with us." he reminded the blonde, "Don't believe everything he just said. It's not true."

"But Kakashi-sensei! He'sー"

His eyes pinned the smirking man with a serious stare, ignoring the blonde's rant. "Tell us, Takeo-san. Where is the woman?"

"Heh, why would I even tell you? It's not my obligation to tell you where is that hottie's whereabouts, boy."

"Takeo-san, you are under our custody. And you are a _prisoner _here." he said matter of factly and continued, "Whether you like it or notー we better hear it from you about where she is."

Takeo only laughed uncontrollably, making Ino to seethe in pure anger but Kakashi held the Yamanaka's arm in a firm hold.

"Sorry to tell, Hatake." the founder of the Red Funeral said coolly, leaning on his chair smugly with his hands been restrained by chakra infused handcuffs behind him.

"But I am not obligated to tell it,"

"Really now?" another voice have said, making the occupants of the room to look at the new figure who's appearing on the opening door of the interrogation room.

Ino felt some tingling chills began to crawl on her spine as she heard the familiar voice of a _certain someone_.

And the voice, even though how blank and stoic it wasー she knew that it was been laced with _threat_ and _venom_.

"So well what do we have here? Another interrogator? And a handsome one at thー"

"Where is Sakura."

"_Sakura_? So that was the name of the beautiful maiden, eh?" Takeo commented with a smirk, "The name sound's fitting for her pink hair."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes into slits, as his aura screamed danger. He was already losing his patience and he don't want to repeat the same question again and again.

"Where is _she_?"

The huge man shook his head incredulously, chuckling sardonically at the Uchiha, unaware of the man's threat lacing in his tone.

"Just like what I've told you pretty boy." He shrugged his shoulders, smirking at Sasuke who's looking at him with a serious look. "I am not obligated to tell anyone of yoー _aaaaaahhhhh_!"

"Papa!" Sarada yelled out, while Mebuki and the others gasped in surprise.

"Sasuke! Stop that!" Naruto ran towards the Uchiha who's only deeply rooted on his place, facing the writhing founder who's screaming in pain and agony because of some black flames gnawing the flesh of the said man.

"You are being too soft."

"But this is being too much, Sasuke!" Naruto retorted.

"Don't stop me, Naruto." The Uchiha gravely warned the Hokage who only stopped when his cerulean orbs caught the Mangekyō Sharingan in his right eye.

"I'll repeat it again," Sasuke said in a much dead serious tone, controlling the Amaterasu with his eye, slowly making the flames to scatterー which made Takeo to scream in pain even more.

"_Where is my wife, Sakura_?"

"Aaaaaaahー! I-I sold her out! Pleaー"

Sasuke's mismatched eyes slightly widened.

_Sold her out? _

"I s-s-sold her out for a bunch of g-g-gold bars!" Takeo cried as he continued to writhe on his chair, "Please don't kill me! I-I'll tell you the truth! Just please stop this!"

Naruto grasped the Uchiha's arm, trying to get his attention. With a slight narrowing of his eyes to the writhing prisoner, he spoke.

"Sasuke, stop it. He's now willing to give us information about where Sakura-chan is."

Sasuke didn't move in his position even just for a bit. Hardened eyes stared at the fat man with intense anger and disgust. The Uchiha clenched his sole hand into a tight fist, cannot believe that his _wife _was been sold out by a stupid lowlife _fatso _man who called himself a founder of a said pathetic notorious nukenin group.

"Where did you sold her?"

Takeo's eyes widened for a second, shaking his head in contemplation.

"I-I...don't know myself," he choked out, frightened eyes looking at the hardened eyes of the Uchiha. "P-please! I'll explain! It's just thatー"

"Just _what_?" the ravenette challenged, his sole hand gripping the hilt of his katana in a hardened grip. "Give me a better explanation or I won't hesitate to chop your head off,"

"You better speak, Takeo." Kakashi added, his obsidian eyes eyed the Uchiha warily until his orbs landed on the frightened fatso man. "You are at his mercy right now and it's better if you spill the beans and tell us where is Sakura. We're waiting."

Takeo nodded in a frightened manner, he gulped for a second as he glanced at the Uchiha who's only waiting for his answer.

"It was an unknown man," he started and Sasuke slightly slid his katana off from it's scabbard and the fat prisoner only shook his head in panic. "I'm serious! He was an unknown man and I didn't even know what was the man's name! H-he said he came from an another dimension and that's why he hired me from capturing your woman! He desperately need her!"

"Dimension?" Naruto's eyes widened in confusion. _What the hell is going on? _"What dimension?"

"I didn't know! He just appeared out of nowhere! In a _portal_!" he replied in frustration, "All I know is that he wore some weird clothes and he had followers who wore the weirdest helmets and armors in their body! The man looked like a wealthy man from an another place, and he just traded me for these _gold bars _in exchange for that pink haired woman!"

"Damn it," the blonde Hokage cursed under his breath, eyeing the silent Uchiha with a worried look. "Sasuke. You went to any kinds of dimensions right? Do you have any idea what is this man telling us?"

"..."

"And what the hell is this _gold ba_ー ... Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked so conflicted. He have no idea about this _dimension_ that the nukenin founder was telling them. And a _man_ who desperately need _her_? Another dimension? Is it a follower of Kaguya who wants to get their revenge? But instead of him and Naruto, it was _Sakura_ they held captive with? It's a possibility but well, he wasn't sure himself.

He swore that hecompleted his mission about finding some remnants of Kaguya inside the other dimensions; that he kept on checking and investigating, hoping to find any traces of that ancient goddess butー

He somewhat feels that he _failed_. What if his theory was correct? What if that _unknown man _was connected to Kaguya?

_That won't happen._

"Look at me," he demanded right away to the man.

Takeo, feeling frightened to the Uchiha and out of confusionー he only looked directly to his single Mangekyō Sharingan, as he suddenly froze to his position like a confused statue; staring into space, dully.

Sasuke didn't waste his time to intrude the man's mind conscious. Snooping through his mind as he searched for the only _important_ memory where it's only about the details of his missing wife.

The Uchiha got what he wanted. After a few minutes of making Takeo incapacitated by his own genjutsu, he broke the gaze finallyー making the fat man gasped for air as if he want to save himself from drowning.

"I got what I needed," the ravenette turned around, ignoring the looks that the occupants of the room were giving him.

"Sasuke, what did you seー"

With an impassive look, mismatched eyes looked over his shoulder.

"Naruto, you're coming with me. There's something we need to discuss."

Naruto, with a nod of understanding; he simply followed the Uchiha out of the interrogation room, leaving the other occupants inside.

Sasuke won't never forget the wavy brown hair of a wealthy good looking man, wearing this weird kind of _prince _attireー with a deep green shade of eyes, darker than Sakura's lively emerald orbs.

And he would never forget how the _man_, smirked in satisfaction as he scooped the body of his unconscious wife in his arms.

_**"Job well done, Sir. Now I'm taking this fair beautiful maiden with me. Farewell,"**_

Sasuke was a changed man, but knowing that his wife was been kidnapped by someone who had a guts to commit something so ludicrous such as _abduction__ー _made him want to berserk like what happened in the Land of Iron just a decade and a few years ago.

Uchiha Sasuke clenched his sole hand into a tight fist. Making sure to track down that piece of shit and save the important woman in his life.

Even if he have to kill, then he would.

* * *

"Sasuke. It's not Kaguya isn't it?"

"No," the curt response escaped the lips of the Uchiha, making the blonde sigh in complete relief; but then he continued, "it's not Kaguya. It's a man."

"A man?" Kakashi piped in, that piqued his interest. "Who might that be?"

"I don't know, Kakashi. But the prisoner was telling the truth. That man really came from a _portal_." Sasuke said impassively, his eyes narrowing for a second; as if he was trying to recall the portals that he had managed to visit during his undercover days.

But the portal that he saw from Takeo's memories was _unusual_. It was different from the portals that he had visited beforeー

"An unusual portal." Sasuke added.

A contorted _spiral portal_.

It was different from the spiral portal that he saw from Obito's _Kamui_. The portal was just in place, looking contorted as everー with a weird circle around it and unusual symbols of **stars** and **triangles**.

"_Unusual portal_?" Kakashi raised a confused eyebrow at the ravenette's curt response, "What kind of portal was it, Sasuke?"

"It was different to the other portals that I've encountered so far. The portals that I managed to visit before was simple. A small white portals in the shape of circles, oval, rectangles or in spirals. But this portal," Sasuke pursed his lips, "was _different_ compared to the portals that I saw."

"How much _different_ was this portal, Sasuke? Any ideas how it looks?"

Sasuke trudged towards the desk of Naruto, with his sole hand searched for a pen and a clean white paper. He began sketching the portal that he just saw in Takeo's memory with his Sharinganin such finesseー his hand drew the contorted portal, with huge circles surrounding it and weird symbols, stars and triangles inside the circle.

He handed the paper to them, which Kakashi grabbed it in complete interest while Naruto looked out of curiosity.

"That's weird." the blonde Hokage commented, his eyebrows scrunching in confusion as he checked the sketch with his cerulean keen eyes. "It doesn't makes sense to me. Is that a summoning circle?"

"Maybe. I was thinking the same thing too."

"But the question is, why does it look like this? With the stars, triangles and such? It's new for me. I don't even understand what does the symbols mean." Naruto crossed his arms over his chest as he contemplated, "I haven't saw something like this before. And I'm not sure."

Kakashi hummed for a moment, making the both men to turn their heads and looked at him with an expression akin to anticipation.

"What is it, Sensei? Do you know something about it?"

Obsidian eyes assessed the paper in concentration, staring at it for a good five minutes until he finally responded to the blonde's question.

"Magic." he said in realization, as if he just guessed the last mystery of a hard complicated puzzle but then he continued. "But I thought this thing was only a myth.. So it was _real_ afterall this time?" he mumbled.

"_Magic_?" Naruto tilted his head to the side in befuddlement, "I swear I heard that thing before back then. But what was _it_ again?"

Ignoring Naruto, Sasuke only looked at Kakashi in confirmation.

"I heard that word from Orochimaru before. And as I know, magic was different to jutsu. Am I correct?"

"Exactly, Sasuke. If _jutsu_ are techniques used by the ninjas, utilized by molding chakra in conjunction with a various of hand signsー then _magic_ was different though." said Kakashi, still holding the sketch with his right hand, inspecting it with impassive eyes.

"Magic or _sorcery_ー it was done through use of rituals, symbols, actions, gestures, and language with the aim of utilizing supernatural forces. And this picture that you sketched, Sasuke, was an evidence that magic really do _exist. _I have a hunch that this," he pointed a finger on the sketch, "what you have drawn was a _magic circle._"

"So are you telling us that we're dealing with an another entity, Kakashi-sensei? Not just a normal entity who uses chakra and jutsu's like us, but uses _sorcery _instead?" Naruto asked in disbelief as he pinched the bridge of his nose out of habit. "How unbelievable is that?"

Seriously, they were ninjas for kami's sake. How the hell are they gonna deal with an enemy who uses magic if they don't _possess_ such thing, nor any knowledge about it? Does jutsu even stood a chance against this _magic_ that his sensei— Kakashi, were telling them?

"We're not sure yet, Naruto. My knowledge about magic were only limited based on the ancient scrolls that I managed to read before. But still, I have no idea on a slightest. What I know is the basic information, nothing more." Kakashi handed the paper back to the Uchiha with a sigh, like Naruto, he was starting to massage his temples just to relieve the headache that was starting to form.

They already faced someone so dangerous in their lives. Even experienced how difficult it was to battle just for the sake of the whole shinobi world from crumbling down from the hands of a certain Uchiha Madara on the last Fourth Shinobi War. They faced not only the powerful Uchiha Madara and the other formidable shinobi's who was been reanimated by a forbidden jutsu. But they had also happened to face and defeated a goddess, an _ancient goddess _to be exact; Ōtsutsuki Kaguya too.

But _this_, was not something that he really anticipated to come. Magic and jutsu were two different things, and jutsu is only applicable to their worldー the _world of shinobi. _

But magic?

He haven't saw a magic before or even in all of his life. All he knew was that magicwas only a _myth_, nothing serious and real.

But is there a possibility that _sorcery_ is not just a simple myth? And in addition to that, is it possible that magic was already been practiced by some other people in some parts of the shinobi world?

A sudden thought came over him.

He seems to forgot about something so _important_.

Kakashi let out a deep sigh, hoping the headache will subside and leave his head if he won't think too much about the thing that bothered the hell out of them. So with the magic topic being cast aside for a momentー there was still _hope_ left and all he need to do is to visit the last person that Sakura had managed to see and talked so far.

"Let's visit Tsunade-sama in her room," he said in finality, "She might know something about what happened before the infiltration. She's our last hope. Let's go."

* * *

The scent of antiseptics filled the older woman's nostrils as she slightly slumped her body to the comfy pillows behind her.

It was already been long ago that she found herself in hospitals again. When was it? _Five to six years ago_?

She shook her head out of habit when she was drastically exhausted. As she leaned more further to the softiness of her bed, relishing to the fact and feeling that she was still _alive_ again yet being _numb_ at the same timeー her brownish-honey colored eyes tiredly gazed at the room's interiors; even checking the sofa, table, vases, simple wall frames out of boredom.

She was about to heave an another sigh, almost wanting to have someone to give her a bottle of saké just to get out herself from boredom when she sensed a familiar chakra's heading to her room's door.

In a few moments, her door swung open, revealing three men who's marching their way inside to her room. As she saw those familiar men in her vision, she lifted up her body to a sitting position, but still leaning her sore back to the huge pillows behind her as if an anchor to her weak body.

"Tsunade-sama," Kakashi greeted with a respectful bow which the older woman only nodded in appreciation and greetings also. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm good. Feeling sore in some places, but still breathing and alive." she said with a slight smile and continued, "Thankfully."

The Ex-Rokudaime sighed out of relief as he heard that coming from the woman. With a few steps forward, he pulled out a chair from a table and sat on it.

_It's now than never._ He thought internally.

"That's good to hear then, Tsunade-sama. But with the pleasantries aside for a moment, we're here to discuss some things with you. If you don't mind?"

Tsunade snorted, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked at the boys with a look of _authority_. Even though she was looking weak as ever in her temporary not-so-comfy hospital bed (_Only the huge pillows_, Tsunade mused), she was still harboring an aura of _intimidation_ that the three men were only silent, looking at her in complete respectand anticipation for her knowledge about something they barely knew.

"I'm not surprised, Kakashi. To be honest, I am anticipating for this day to comeー and I hate it also when I've been totally left out to this whole _thing_, with my apprentice being put on the line somewhere else."

"And I wanted to help as much as I could. Sakura is important to me. _Very important_ to me, Kakashi." she looked at him, "So spill it out. What do you wish to know?"

"What happened to the day when Sakura infiltrated the Red Funeral's hideout?"

"Ah."

The memory was still fresh inside the Senju's mind.

It happened in a middle of the night, where the S-rank missing nins were dead asleep in their respected rooms while her being incapacitated by a _Tenrou o Tsukau _(a jutsu that was originally been used by some few shinobi from Kusa for the criminals to limit their chakra, and to kill them and burn them into ashes if they force to use chakra to execute ninjutsu). She was been locked to an old musty prison that makes her really sick to the core. She was trying her best to stop the urge to puke her shits out and wished that she can unbind herself from the stupid seal so that she can punch the daylights out of the people who had a balls to do this to her.

After a few moments of some futile attempts of trying to use chakra with her hands (with her chest feeling sore and burned because of the seal reacting to her attempts)ー Tsunade stopped, punching the ground next to her out of frustration and detesting the _helplessness _she's feeling for herself in her situation.

But then,

_"Tsunade-sama? I know you are there. Oh kami-sama, wait a second.. I'm getting you out of this hell." a familiar voice can be heard next to the metal doors, the sound of picking up the lock of the door with a senbon can be heard. _

_._

_._

_._

_Sakura?_

_._

_._

_._

_Click!_

_"Yes!"_

_"Tsunade-sama, I'm here to get yo__ー__"_

_Thwack!_

_"Sakura!"_

_Hardened eyes landed on the man near the door of her prison, holding the unconscious body of her apprentice._

_"What the fuck did you just do to my apprentice?" she seethed in pure anger as she stood and ran with her right fist high up in the air__ー __attempting to punch the man with her normal brute force._

_"I see, so this is your apprentice then?" the man remarked, evading Tsunade's attack with a sidestep. "I didn't expect that this would be so very easy. Very well. We already have her now."_

_"Where the hell are you taking her?!" _

_A smirk, "To my boss, of course. See you."_

"Sakura had managed to sneaked in to the prisons. And she successfully found the prison where I had been locked. But unfortunately, she haven't noticed the guard who was been there to guard my prison in twenty-four sevenー making her defenses drop and he incapacitated her right away in a second." Tsunade replied with a downcast look.

"I see. So what did they do to her?"

"Prisoner also, just like me." she stated, feeling sick to the core once again. "But as the time has passed, I finally understood that everything what happened to us was _planned_ since from the beginning."

Naruto rebutted in, "What do you mean, baachan?"

"Someone hired the leader of Red Funeral to get my apprentice." Tsunade said, "They knew how difficult to capture her if she's inside her village. So they did the alternative way, they captured me instead. In other words they used me as a bait to get their hands to Sakura."

"Little piece of shits.." Naruto cursed under his breath.

"It makes me wonder Tsunade-sama," said Kakashi as he gestured for his hand to Sasuke, grasping the small sketch with his calloused hand. "Have you seen this anywhere?"

"That'sー"

"I see. So you have an idea what is this?"

Tsunade narrowed her eyes at Kakashi, "Of course I am, Kakashi. Don't mistake this old woman for a _fool_. I _know_ what that is."

Naruto can feel the uneasiness in the pit of his stomach, "Then...Magic is not a myth?"

"No, it's real." she confirmed with a much serious tone, "I thought Magic was only a myth too, but I saw it with my two eyes, Kakashi. The man who wants Sakura; used it for some kind of transportational portal. I _saw_ it."

_Just as I thought. Things were getting more complicated. _Kakashi exhaustedly mulled to himself.

So what Sasuke saw in Takeo's memories was real. And what they were dealing right now was not even a _shinobi__ー _but a man who knows how to do _sorcery_. And the worst?

_He have Sakura with him._

"ーthe worst is... even Sasuke have no idea what kind of dimension the enemy came from. Kakashi-sensei, what are we gonna do? We can't let Sakura-chan to be captured just like that! Not on my watch, damn it!" the Nanadaime fumed, almost pulling the roots of his blonde hair out of frustration.

Naruto chuckled lifelessly, palming the half of his face with his prosthetic hand.

"Just as I thought. Sending her alone was a very fucking bad idea in the first place. I failed," his lifeless chuckles turned into a low croaking one, "I _failed_ as a Hokage...Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei, baachan." he stated vulnerably, "I won't forgive myself if she's in danger. I really won't."

"Naruto..." the Senju called out to him, "Don't blame yourself on this. If there is one person who's at fault here; then that would be _me_, not you Naruto. And it's even my fault why Sakura is not here with you, Uchihaー" she looked at the silent Uchiha with a shake of her head, laughing sardonically to herself as she reminded herself to her own patheticness once again.

"ーJust because to save this sorry ass of mine. And what an excuse, pathetic of a Legendary Sannin I am. _Endangering_ my apprentice. I'm more _pathetic_ compared to all of you."

After that being said, they stayed silent for minutes. The room went silent, cold even with a palpable tension circulating around the four of them.

But then, Tsunade started to speak again.

"Kakashi." she leaned her body back to the pillows once again, her eyes stared at her lap in deep cogitation.

"Yes?"

"Before I retired to my position as the Hokage, a complicated-mystery file was been delivered to me from the Land of Rivers. An unusual report about a girl by the name of Nakatsukasa Kaede, saying that her younger sister was been sucked out of an _unusual _portal from a large tree in the Cursed Forest."

Kakashi and Naruto's eyes widened, while Sasuke only opened his ears to listen for more information.

"As I remember, they even said that this girl got insane and was been_ traumatized_ by the disappearance of her sister. I don't know the next exact details about it myself because I can't remember the contents of the report anymoreー 'cause it was already fifteen years ago."

"I see, Tsunade-sama. But what are you trying to tell us?"

"Her sister's case portal might be similar to the portal that we just saw with the magic summoning, Kakashi. Based on the reports, the portal she concluded was pretty unusual and different to the summoning portals that she had witnessed before. Many people won't even believe about this _thing_. And now that we have an evidence that magic is actually a real thing, then you should give this a shot. This should not be a coincidence."

"Baachan... You.."

Tsunade cracked a smile at Naruto, "I told you Naruto that I'm willing to help. It happened that I can still remember things such as this. I hope that this would be the next step to find Sakura's whereabouts."

"Tsunade-sama. Thank you so much for the help. This is a huge help coming from you," Kakashi stood from his seat, bowing politely at the older woman in front of her. "Thank you very much."

"No problem. Naruto, try to look for that old file in your office. I'm sure that file was still there unscathed. Try to search for the file reports from fifteen years ago about an unusual case coming from the Land of Rivers. Have your assistant search it for you."

"I will, baachan. You have my word."

"Good."

"So we're going now, Tsunade-sama?"

"You should be. Y'all are disturbing my resting peace. Just go out and grow some balls. Do your next mission,"

The Hatake only nodded with a chuckle as he took a step back with the two men following his lead, walking their way to the door of the Senju's room.

"Wait."

The three of them stopped, turning their heads to the blonde woman out of curiosity. Tsunade directed her gaze to the silent Uchiha who only looked back at her impassively.

"Sasuke, pardon me." she apologized genuinely, clenching the sheets in her lap with her fists. "For not saving Sakura on that time."

"It's not your fault. No one does," Sasuke replied curtly as he turned his back to her.

"So don't apologize. Sakura would not like it in a slightest if she found out that you apologized about it."

"Heh. Right, you cocky brat." Tsunade grinned at the ravenette's reply.

"You really know your wife too much."

"Hn."

* * *

"Damn Naruto. If this is wasn't for Sakura, I will be not doing this thing." complained Shikamaru as he searched for the specific old file report from the Land of Rivers fifteen years ago. "You're supposed to know where the files was."

"Geez, Shikamaru. I told you so, I have no idea to such thing. And I don't touch old files from back then, but this is an exception. Tsunade-baachan told us to search for it."

"Is that so? Well, just wait for another minutes. I can't still find the file. Why don't you just ask for Shizune-san to do this instead? She knows more that I am about the old reports from fifteen years ago. She was used to be Tsunade-sama's assistant, isn't she?"

A sigh, "Come on, Shikamaru. This is important. We don't want to hear some petty complaints coming from you." Kakashi said tiredly; waiting patiently, with him sitting on a chair with Sasuke standing behind him.

"Alright alright. These men really doesn't know what the hell does patience is. Troublesome."

"It's because you're damm complaining." Naruto mumbled. "And you sounded like a whiny girl, Shikamaru."

"I heard you, Naruto. If it wasn't for the fact that I'm your personal assistant, I swear I won't do this things for you."

"Whatever."

"Ah, finally." the Nara said with a sigh, waving a red envelope in his hand, "Land of the Rivers report from fifteen years ago, huh? Found it."

Kakashi reached out for the envelope, pulling out the papers inside of it.

_(__**Report from the Land of Rivers**__)_

**_Accident from the rumored: __Cursed Forest_ _of the Village of the Artisans_**

**_An unusual disappearance of people coming in the Village of the Artisans._**

**_Victims consists of:_**

_20 civilians_

_15 shinobi_

_32 survived_

"'Thirty-two survived'," Kakashi read it aloud, "'But all of them got insane and traumatized.'" Naruto flinched at this but Kakashi and Sasuke ignored it. "'But a certain person had managed to get out of the Cursed Forest, claiming that she's not insane and she lost her sister from a very huge tree.'"

"'This tree was unusual; because no one can see the huge tree even in mid air, and no one seems to find it except for her. She also included that this tree was looking old and _mysterious._'"

Kakashi eyed the next sentence, remembering the older Senju's words once again.

_This girl, by the name of Nakatsukasa Kaede; saying that her younger sister was been sucked out of an unusual portal from a large tree in the Cursed Forest. She named this the __**Tree of Unknown**__._

**ー _Case still unsolved_ ー**

* * *

**Tenrou o Tsukau (****天牢を使う****/"Sky Prison Control")- this is a jutsu used by Mui from the Naruto the Movie: Blood Prison. Where it was a seal used ****for the criminals to limit their chakra, and to kill them and burn them into ashes if they force to use chakra to execute any ninjutsus.**

* * *

_**A/N: Don't forget to review, guys. Tell me what your thoughts about it. Constructive criticism is also open~**_

_**Re-uploaded/Revised from way back October 10, 2017**_

_**ー**__**SpringfieldOfCherryBlossoms**_


	4. Chapter III

**_A/N: Hello again. I feel like wanting to have a beta reader somehow, but eh, I couldn't find somebody who could help me. It would be nice if someone will help me, especially to the grammars and stuff. No man is an island though. *groans* _**

**_Here's the third chapter. As usual, I didn't change anything in here. I do not own Naruto and the characters. Enjoy~_**

* * *

**Chapter Three**

**The Departure**

* * *

It was already three days ago when Sasuke and the others have discovered anything about _magic_. The Haruno family was been informed. And as usual, Haruno Mebuki cried her hearts outー feeling distraught that maybe her only daughter was in danger. While Kizashi did his best to stay normal and comfort his weeping wife. Uchiha Sarada was confused when she found out about it from Naruto, but then Kakashi explained it more further to her.

"Magic is something that a shinobi can't do, Sarada. And magic was different to jutsu," He explained to the ravenette which she only nodded in understanding.

For the next few days, Naruto and Sasuke was planning to go to the Land of Rivers to find the girl (their last remaining hope) by the name of Kaede. Even though there's many people whose against about the thought of Naruto leaving the village to look some information with Sasuke. Naruto had insisted that he really wanted to go, and no one can stop him from saving the woman he used to love, and a dear old teammate to him. Sakura is precious to him, _very_ _important_ to him.

"Are you nuts, Naruto? If you come with Sasuke, then who the hell will substitute your sorry ass as the Hokage?" Shikamaru argued.

"You know that I can count on you guys," The blonde said calmly, his face really devoid of emotion. "I know this is a selfish thing to do, but this is a complete new entity we're facing, Shikamaru. I'm not saying that Sasuke cannot handle this with his own, but I want to be there to save our teammateー Sasuke's wife, my sworn bestfriend and sister... Sakura-chan out of this shithole."

"Naruto.."

"And I won't forgive myself if I'm not there to save her. Sakura-chan is with me all throughout these years, and I don't want to lose her, Shikamaru. I hope you all will understand my decision,"

"Very well," Kakashi said with a sigh, closing an ancient scroll about magic that he was readingー trying to decipher the meanings of the symbols there. "That is Naruto's decision as the Nanadaime. We can inform this to the other Kage's and they would understand Naruto with his final decision. He will accompany Sasuke, and this could be a retrieval mission for Sakura too."

Shikamaru only sighed, but he nodded in submission.

"Alright then. This situation is getting complicated I see. Just don't forget to tell this to Hinata and to your kids, Naruto." The Nara patted the Hokage in the shoulder in a manly comfort.

"I know."

But then in the Uchiha household, Sasuke and Sarada was preparing for their dinner when the little one suddenly asked a question that Sasuke really dreaded to answer.

"Papa, I heard that you're going to leave with Nanadaime-sama in the next few days. When are you going to tell it to me that you're leaving?" started Sarada as she ate her food, "When?"

"..."

"Tell me, Papa. I don't want to be left out to this," The Uchiha heiress pressed the question even more further, "Not ever."

"Sarada, we already talked about this aren't we?" Sasuke said lowly, his mismatched eyes looked at his bowl of food. "You'll stay here, and don't argue with me anymore."

"Again?"

A sound of an aluminum chopsticks clattering on a glass bowl can be heard in the whole dining room, with Sarada clenching her both fists in the tableー feeling _hurt_ and _angry_ once again.

"_Again_? You're telling me this bull crap all over _again_? Really now, Papa?"

Sasuke stopped midway in his meal, as he then lowered his chopsticks next to his eating bowl.

With a serious look, he faced her and was been greeted by the anguished look of his daughter. The Uchiha almost froze in his seat, feeling his chest tightened at the view he was seeing with his both eyesー remembering the familiar face of his wife when she snapped at her long time ago.

_"Again? You're telling me this again, Sasuke-kun? You know that I don't want to be left out to this, right? I'm coming with you!"_

"Sarada," Sasuke started, pursing his lips for a moment as he contemplated what to answer.

What would he tell her just to make her understand instead?

"I already told you about this. Whether you like it or not, you're not coming with us."

"_Bullshit_, Papa." The young Uchiha snapped, clenching her fists in her sides.

"You're being unfair."

"How so?" He challenged, his mismatched eyes daring her to go more further. _When it's all about for your safety?_

How did he became _unfair_ now? So having her safe inside the village walls, while him going to dangerous _missions _alone－ was an _unfair decision_ after all?

"I have the right to know and I need to be there for Mama, Papa!" She argued, tears were already brimming at the corner of her eyes. "And you're being unfair because you don't understand me even in a slightest!"

"..."

"You always ignore me! My opinions! If you really care about me, then why are you doing this to me?!" Sarada spatted, her tone escalated even more.

"After all this time, you don't listen to my words." She laughed bitterly, her tears already fell from her eyes— as it rolled over her pale flushed cheeks. "Am I really your _daughter_, Papa? Because you know what? You're making me feel that _I _am just an ordinary stranger－"

"－who's not even _worth_ your time."

Sasuke literally froze in his position, his serious expression turned into a frown— and then to a blank one.

So, she was thinking of him like that so _negatively_? Sasuke thought that if he will be so _discreet_ with the missions and stuff— it would make Sarada to be unaware of the things around her. Including how complicated the situation was about Sakura's disappearance.

He was sure he did his best. He might not be the most greatest father _ever_; where he would always have time for his kids and witness everything how they would grow up under his watch and other more—

— But he knew _one_ thing, he left the village for their safety. Not only because he want to repent for his sins, but he did it for _everybody_, for the next generation, and to protect his _family._

_**Sakura and Sarada.**_

But is he a really useless father?

"You don't get it," Sasuke said slowly, looking at the table with a thoughtful expression yet stoic. "You really don't get it, Sarada." _You __**just **__don't get it._

"I'm doing this because this is what I think it's for the best, and for the better." _Since I was your age. I am a naïve little child with a proud lineage._

"You know that this is a _business_ between adults. And Uchiha's were known to be strong, domineering with pride and independent people." _I've lost everything. _"You, as a clever child with a gene of an Uchiha; who have my _gene _and _blood—_ must know when to stop if you found yourself losing an argument." _My mind, the will to live in happiness and most of all— I lost my whole __**family**__._

"You will only hurt yourself if you come." _I know I sounded like a hypocrite. _"You're still a genin. And you're hardly _strong_ and _independent_, Sarada. You will only **burden** us."

"When I said '_you can't go with us_', then you **can't**." _But I'm only doing this for your safety. _"So don't push my buttons any further, Sarada."

Sarada only looked at him in tears.

"My mission with Naruto about your mother's case is none of your concern." _I'm doing this because just like you, I don't want to lose Sakura. Not ever. _

"You are staying here, whether you like it or not." _And I wanted you to be safe. Even if I have to be harsh just to make you stop. Then, I'll do it._

"This is the end of conversation. I don't want to hear anything about this anymore. We're leaving, and you'll stay here. End of discussion." _I want to protect you. _

_You and your mother._

Sasuke looked at his daughter, trying to convince her with the look of his eyes. With his expression turned into gloomy in a second.

_I hope you will understand me, Sarada. Just like how your mother understands me. _

"Enough already.." said Sarada.

The Uchiha patriarch eyed the young ravenette, hoping that she would finally _understand_ him. Even for a _little_.

"Fine. Do as you please, Papa. I won't bother you anymore." She eyed her forgotten meal mumbling a low '_thank you for the food_' as she then stood up, ignoring Sasuke's gaze.

"I'm sorry for being unworthy and _weak_. I'm sorry. This won't happen again, Papa." The young Uchiha apologized, bowing her head as she tried to control her tears at bay.

"I'm sorry for being so _annoying_."

Sarada retired to her room after she said that, with Sasuke looking after the back of his leaving daughter. He was left alone on the dining table, with the untouched and cold food—

_Even a guilty and heavy heart._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_"No. You're staying here."_

_"No! Why can't you just understand it? I don't want to be left out here!" She argued, her face was already red in pure temper at her own husband. "Just let me be!"_

_"It's dangerous! Why can't you just understand it? Is that very hard to__ー__"_

_A sound of sobbing can be heard, making Sasuke to look at her wife in complete distress. _

_He doesn't like it when he always make his wife cry. He really don't like it in a slightest._

_"But I want to come with you. I don't want to be left out pregnant here alone in the village. I want to come with you, Sasuke-kun." She said, covering her face with her hands as she sobbed._

_"But you have Naruto and your parents here, Sakura. You're not alone at all. I can't let you travel with me now that you're carrying our child. It's dangerous." He explained, trying to calm his sobbing wife._

_"But I-I want to come with you."_

_He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in complete exhaustion._

_Pregnant women were really hard to handle._

_"Alright then."_

Sasuke slumped in his seat, his mismatched eyes found the cream colored ceiling of their abode－ looking _vulnerable_ as ever.

_Sakura._

_Is this the payment of what I've done before? _He said to his thoughts. _I am starting to lose you. And now our daughter hates me too?_

_Why is this happening to me? Do I even deserve this?_

_Tell me._

Sasuke's lone hand massaged the bridge of his nose, an obvious habit that he had when he's mentally exhausted. After a few moments of massaging it, he covered his eyes with his large hand as he let out a heavy and _shaky_ sigh—

_Do I deserve this? Answer me, Sakura. Answer me._

"Mother, Father..." He said vulnerably to no one and continued, "Niisan." He hardly bit his lower lip, as he tried to control his _frustrations_ and _emotions_ at bay—

—But the luck was not on his side,

_As always. _He mused bitterly.

because he's failing to do so.

"I'm sorry," He apologized, feeling unsecured and troubled just like what he was when he was still a teenager. "I'm so sorry. I'm a bad, useless father."

After one and a half decade of being a stoic and an intimidating iron man he was—

Uchiha Sasuke finally _cracked,_ as he can't stop his traitorous tears from coming out of his eyes.

They're not only _sad tears. _It's_ blank_, _hollow_ and_ sorrow tears_ of a broken man, who's trying to be a changed man; but slowly starting to lose his precious people once again.

After that, Sasuke thought that the Uchiha was really a _cursed_ _clan_. A family full of _**sorrow**_.

* * *

"Sasuke, Naruto." Kakashi called out to his ex-students who only looked back at him in question.

"What time is your departure, you two?"

"This six in the evening, Kakashi-sensei." replied Naruto as he stood in his chair, holding a scroll in his hands. "Me and Sasuke was planning to travel on foot, and we won't use any transportation."

"Oh?" The silver-haired man arched a single eyebrow at the blonde. "Why's that?"

"Old times is much better." He smirked, his cerulean eyes found Sasuke's. "Don't you think, Sasuke?"

"Aa. I think travelling on foot is much better than transportation." Sasuke agreed and continued, "Plus, Takumi is a secluded village. There's no transportation to that place yet."

"That's true. Welp, I seem to forgot it." Kakashi said, leaning his back on the door with a shrug as he sighed. "I'm getting old, boys."

"Heh, yes you are. We happened to have a family of our own. While here you are, still a lazy old man as ever.. Just get yourself a woman already!"

"Nah, Naruto. I'm too old to fall in love." Kakashi groaned.

"You'll die virgin." Naruto snickered.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at him, "Oh? And who says I'm still a _virgin_, Naruto?"

Naruto spluttered as his cerulean eyes were huge as watermelons, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"After all this time! You—"

"Naruto. You're too noisy, stop that." Sasuke admonished, "Someone's coming."

The mahogany doors of the Hokage office opened, making Kakashi and the others looked at the entrance of the said office in anticipation.

Yamanaka Ino and Sai appeared, altogether with Nara Shikamaru and his wife Temari. Ino and Temari smiled at them in greetings as the four of them entered the room, with Sai and Shikamaru the lead.

"Yo." The pineapple head Nara greeted with a curt salute, making Naruto and the others gave him a simple nod. "Are you two ready, Naruto? It's quarter to six." Shikamaru commented as he put his both hands inside his pant's pocket.

"Yes we are, Shikamaru. We're ready to be off in a few minutes."

"That's good to hear then." Shikamaru said, "Ah I forgot, Naruto. Hinata's with us anyways."

"Hinata?" Naruto's eyes widen in anticipation.

"Yes, Hinata. She said she want to—"

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting!"

All of their heads turned at the entrance of the office as the figure of Uzumaki Hinata entered the room altogether with her child Himawari who was holding a pack of bento in her hands.

Naruto only smiled at the presence of his wife. He will going to miss_ her_ too much. He will miss his **family** so _much_.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata called out to her husband as she ran and enveloped him into a hug.

"Daddy!" Himawari imitated her mother as she also ran to Naruto's direction, hugging the both figure of her parents.

"Hinata, Hima." Naruto hugged her both girls in a tight yet gentle manner, "You came. Where's Boruto?"

Hinata pulled out for a second, looking at her husband with a sadden look.

"I told him to come with us just to see you for the last time." The Uzumaki matriarch said in a sadder tone, "But he doesn't like it, Naruto-kun. I bet that Boruto was already sulking elsewhere."

Naruto drawled out a heavy sigh, his already old whiskered face dropped into a solemnly manner but he still managed to smile nonetheless.

_For Hinata._ He thought.

"It's okay, Hinata." reasssured Naruto with a comforting squeeze to her shoulders, "I understand. And just let him be. He might be thinking too much right now, our son needs space."

"Naruto-kun.." Hinata bit her lower lip, with her tears threatening to fall. She hugged him once again, burying her face in his shoulder.

Kakashi and the others witnessed the whole scenario, but all of them only looked away— as if they don't want to disrupt their privacy as a family. Shikamaru looked down, while the others tried not to check at the emotional Hinata who was already breaking down to tears.

Sasuke looked at the both Uzumaki's, as he felt out of place on the entire time. For him, Naruto is surely lucky to have a family like Hinata and their two children.

And at the same time, he felt like Naruto also. He have a _wife_ that was almost perfect.

For Sasuke, Sakurawas always the understanding, smart, lovable, loyal, kind and _perfect woman_. But he was just too much of an **idiot** to notice it before.

But aside to that, Naruto and him have some similarities to each other. They might have a beautiful and perfect wife, but the both of them have some _issues_ when it comes to their children though.

If Naruto has Boruto, then Sasuke has Sarada to confront and handle too. And to tell that it was_ easy_ to handle whiny and nosy-sulking pubescent brats was simply a laughable understatement to Sasuke's part. It's very hard to be a _parent_, especially if you have many responsibilities in life.

Kakashi and the others began to leave the office with Sasuke and the Uzumaki family in tow.

_Now or never. _Sasuke thought to himself as he followed them, not saying anything.

_It's time for an important responsibility to be done._

* * *

"I guess this is it then?" said Naruto with a forced smile as he faced the people that he held so dear in his heart.

"Take care okay, Naruto, Sasuke." Kakashi patted the two strongest shinobi on the shoulder, offering them a fatherly smile. "Save Sakura for us."

"Aa."

"Of course, Sensei. You can count us in." Naruto reassured with a smile.

"Naruto, Sasuke." The dark haired husband of Yamanaka Ino talked for the first time, as he continued. "You sure you don't want me to accompany you guys? It's quite unfair that you're going as Team Seven."

Kakashi rebutted.

"Hey now, Sai. Don't forget that I'm going to be stuck here in the village too. I know how you feel, but you are needed here." Kakashi said with a sigh.

Sai only nodded slowly, as he then replied back. "I understand."

"Please take care and save Sakura, you two." said Ino worriedly, "If you managed to save her from the enemy. Get back to us right away, you hear me?"

"Noted." Naruto said with a thumbs up.

Sasuke only nodded at the others in farewell. When he and Naruto was about to face the road for departure, Hinata's voice called out to them.

"Naruto-kun," She called out to her husband and to him, "Sasuke-kun. Please take care okay?"

The Uzumaki matriarch was looking at the both of them with a worried expression, but she tried to smile nonetheless.

Sasuke; who tried to be kind as ever to his friend's wife, only replied.

"We will." He responded curtly, either if maybe out of reassurance or cheering the saddened faces of the comrades that he was facing right now— he was not sure. "Don't worry."

Sasuke who's already eager to leave the said village only turned himself to the road. With Naruto only imitating him, but his expression was completely dead serious. The both of them eyed each other for a moment until they finally nodded— a cue that they were already prepared to depart for their secret mission of Sakura's retrieval.

_This mission needs to be successful_, Sasuke mused to himself. Or else his wife will be in a grave danger.

"I'm coming."

The heads of the people turned, except for Sasuke who already knew who's the owner of the said voice. The Uchiha only glanced over his shoulder, as he looked at his only daughter who eerily looked like a domineering tigress that his wife only possessed especially if she doesn't want to be left out to some things without her consent and permission first.

"I'm coming whether you like it or not, Papa. This is my decision, as an _Uchiha_." said Sarada as she marched her way to the both of them. With her expression still not changing, gracing the gloomy place with her domineering entrance. "And I will prove it to you that I am not weak, and I'm worthy enough to accompany this mission."

Sarada took a step forward.

"You can't stop me." His daughter said in final, making the other's sense of breathing halt for a second— mostly anticipating the famous Uchiha Sasuke's nasty rebuttal to that statement.

But then,

Sasuke only hn-ed, leaving Naruto and the others as he walked on the road without any response. Making the others being so perplexed as ever, even Naruto was gaping at his sworn-bestfriend's unusual behavior.

— he's not stopping her daughter?

_Wasn't he the number one against about having Sarada to accompany them to their mission?_

"Let's go, Naruto. We have a serious mission to do." Sasuke said in a much refined domineering business-liked tone.

"B-but you're daughter—"

"Let her be. It's her decision to make, not mine anymore." He finally walked with a carefree aura; as if he doesn't care anymore, even leaving Naruto and the others at the huge entrance village's gates.

The blonde Uzumaki was left speechless back then, eyeing the silhouette figure of the man who already walked away as if he doesn't care anymore.

He only sighed, even offering a forced exhausted smile to his wife and to the others.

"I guess we need to go now. See you again later." The blonde bid his farewell once again, his cerulean eyes landed to the figure of Uchiha Sarada who's looking so relieved as ever.

"Let's go, Sarada? You don't want us to be left out, aren't you?"

Sarada only nodded with a motivated smile.

"Yes, let's go."

* * *

**_A/N: Don't forget to review, guys. It fuels me to write quickly, hehe. ouo_**

**_And ah, I remembered how short this chapter was. But don't worry! The next one will be longer again~ _**

**_Re-uploaded/Revised from way back October 10, 2017_**

**_—SpringfieldOfCherryBlossoms_**


	5. Chapter IV

_**A/N: I'm baaaaacccckk with a new chapter! And this is quite a little bit long though. Sorry for the too much delay! Life is shitting on me, and I don't have a good time management here with me. Sooooorrrrryyy!**_

_**I do not own Naruto and the characters, but I do solely owned the plot. **_

_**Enjoy~**_

* * *

**Chapter Four**

**Takumi Village**

* * *

It was already two weeks that Naruto, Sasuke and Sarada were travelling on foot. The three of them had managed to cross atleast eight villages in a row, and they have met a few people as they made stop-overs during their journey.

As they walk, Sarada can feel her feet getting achy. With her thick white cloak on, her body can feel the immense heat coming from the very hot weather— making her totally exhausted as she walk.

With a deep breath, the ravenette looked at her two companions. She almost groan out of frustration when she found that her father and the Hokage were not even affected by the said ridiculous weather.

Naruto, as if sensing the ravenette's discomfort— he turned his head to check her out.

"Sarada, you okay?" he asked.

"I.. I am fine," she replied as she forced a smile, "But is it still far? I don't think I can—"

Sarada did not managed to finish her statement when her legs wobbled dramatically as her body suddenly fell forward, waiting for the ground to kiss her along with the dirt and rocks.

"Sara—"

The young Uchiha had only kept her eyes shut as she fell. But instead of hitting the ground, she felt a strong arm enveloping around her small body— stopping her fall and mostly protecting herself from hitting the ground awfully. Feeling relieved, Sarada opened her eyes and was about to thank Naruto for saving her from falling on the ground when—

But then to her surprise, it was not the Nanadaime who saved her afterall. It was her Papa.

"You alright?" he asked curtly, obviously checking her if she's really alright.

Cannot believed on what happened, and for the chivalry that her father did for her— Sarada was left agape, speechless even. But she managed to give her father a simple nod and a reply though.

"Yes, Papa. Thanks," she thanked awkwardly as she tried to balance herself with her _still_ wobbling feet, but to no avail— she failed from doing it.

"Tch. Damn feet won't cooperate with me." muttered Sarada seethingly.

"Do you want me to carry you, Sarada? You could have just told us earlier that you cannot go futher on." Naruto said with worry and understanding, "It was very hot afterall. And this kind of climate can even kill an elephant in an instant. Your feet needs rest."

Feeling against at the thought of being weak in front of her father, Sarada only shook her head in friendly defiance, simply turning down the blonde's request.

"No worries, Nanadaime-sama. I'm all good. I can manage this—"

"Get on."

"Eh?" Sarada blinked in utter confusion, seeing her father kneeling with his back on her.

"I said _get on_." Sasuke said monotonously as he repeated his statement once again. When Sarada didn't moved, Sasuke's mismatched eyes found hers, almost demanding her to just follow what he said. "Hurry, or we'll get roasted here."

"I, uh, okay." she finally gave in as she positioned herself on her Papa's back, even wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Naruto. Let's run."

"Sure."

Sarada felt her chest flutter for a moment. She cannot believe that her father just offered her a helping hand, such as carrying her on his back. As she can remember well, hence the fact that it only happened a few days ago; her father just gave her a cold shoulder— even telling it to her face that '_she's not strong enough_' to handle the mission. But now, he was not only letting her to accompany them, but he's also being nice to her. The ravenette wasn't sure what's going on with her Papa, but then, she was quite eager to know what her father was thinking about.

Uchiha Sarada found her father really peculiar, in a way that she couldn't just finger out what is her father's trail of thought. Unlike her mother, who's naturally an open-book and always wear her heart on her sleeve. Then her father was the complete _opposite_.

She couldn't comprehend the difference between her mother and father. But she knew that they have always been **connected**, in a very unusual way that it was ONLY them who could _understand_ it.

But Sarada wants to understand too. She always have.

As the two strongest shinobi dashed on the quite bumpy road, Sarada was the first to notice the huge gates of a village. Slightly pushing herself from her slumped position, she pointed her finger out while her other arm was holding Sasuke's shoulder.

"Look! It's the village!"

Naruto flashed her a toothy grin, his whiskered face becoming more appealing.

"Excited?" he asked in enthusiasm, "We're about to start our mission there."

"Of course," Sarada nodded in acquiescence, "I'm actually itching to get in that village."

"Naruto, all heads up." Sasuke rebutted their conversation for a second, "Four guards have noticed our presence. It's your job to talk to them. They might have thought that we pose a threat to their village."

"On it." the Nanadaime channelled some amount of chakra in his legs to make himself run more faster. He ran in a way that even cheetahs will put into shame. His movements were really swift, but still looking gracious as ever.

Sarada looked at Naruto in wonderment, seeing how his cape flapped behind him. She have always admired the Nanadaime, in a way that she even wanted to be a Hokage someday. As she can remember while reading through history books at the academy, her Mama was an apprentice of the first ever lady Hokage of Konoha which is Senju Tsunade. She saw the woman in person before, and to tell that she wasn't moved at the woman's wit and intelligence was a complete understatement to Sarada's part.

"Stop right there!" a gruff voice ordered, making Sarada completely snapped out of her thoughts. She noticed that her Papa have stopped running, while Naruto walked in such finesse before them. "I said stop right there! The village is not allowing visitors these days, let alone foreigners!"

"Gozu, chill out! I think he's familiar—"

"We're not allowing visitors to come inside. So please, if you excuse us—"

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto from the Land of Fire," as Naruto have said that, the guards' mouth were left agape like a fish out of water, especially the man named Gozu. The other man only stood stiffly, angling his body much straighter like a tense soldier being scolded by his superior.

"We're here for a business, or should I say for a _mission_." Naruto said as he turned around to acknowledge his two companions behind, "These are my companions, they are with me all throughout this journey."

"O-oh, My Lord!" the guard named Gozu stuttered as he corrected his posture, "M-my apologies for the rudeness, we're not being informed that you're coming today so we thought you're simple foreigners coming from another country to have a vacation. The village is under surveillance, we don't expect visitors nor allow them to pass inside. It was the superior's order. Sorry for the rude behavior earlier."

"Hehe, don't give that a fuss. Everything is alright." Naruto grinned sheepishly, even scratching the back of his head as he said so. "With the use of letter, we had informed your leader about our business here in your village. Considering that you still haven't long-distance communication devices, then the message might have been delivered later than expected."

"Gozu, I got a new message from Ayase. It's from the Superior." said the other guard while Gozu only arched an eyebrow in response to his statement, "It says '_There's two important people coming from the Land of Fire who will be visiting our village. Uzumaki Naruto, the Seventh Hokage— accompanied with Uchiha Sasuke as his right hand. Welcome them to our village and please have them right away to my office when they get arrived. Thank you._'"

"Well err, looks like the message got arrived just _now _don't you think?"

"What do you expect? It's still not modernized here."

"I hope we get to have those 'gadgets' too. Formal letters is too old fashioned," Gozu groaned.

The other guard noticed the small figure beside Sasuke, he blinked for a moment as he checked the letter on his hands once again and back to Sarada who's giving him a blank stare that simply reminds him of something. He was only making sure that he was not witnessing paranormal on a day light.

"Um, it only says two people here."

"This is my daughter." Sasuke said right away as if to end the guard's uncertainties and the weird look that he was giving his daughter. "She's with us on our mission."

"Oh, I see. Pardon me. I-I didn't mean to stare. I guess letters is really not so handy on these times." he murmured the last part.

"Naruto will try to discuss that matter with your leader. But before that with the pleasantries being cast aside for a monent, can you guide us to your leader? We can't afford to waste time as you can see." Sasuke rebutted, making the two guards apologize and was a bit ashamed at their behavior.

The guards bowed in respect and then they got into business again.

Gozu, the somewhat bulky guard with a roguish features gestured the three in a welcome manner.

"Sorry for the rudeness and inconvenience. Please follow me."

* * *

The four shinobi made their way inside the village. Villagers eyed them as they walk. Some of them were looking at them in wonder, while some of the few was waving at them, most particularly to Naruto and Sasuke; maybe aware about their current reputation as the strongest living shinobi or whatnot. But what caught their attention the most was the tension on the shoulders of some villagers on the area. It was like they were kind of _wary_, in a sense that they were being worried about _something_.

Sarada looked around and was obviously distracted on how the village looks like on the inside. Naruto and her father was being serious about the said village being not yet _modernized, _it screams old houses, and everything about the village were so old and plain. But to the ravenette's opinion, instead of wrinkling her nose about how plain it was— she actually liked those.

Old things fascinates her. Maybe it was the fact that she's more into tradition thingy than modernized things, but it doesn't mean she doesn't like modern though.

She guessed that maybe it's because she is an Uchiha. Her Mama used to tell her that the Uchiha clan were conservative and traditionalist— and that was been proved enough when she observed her Papa at some times wherein he still follows the simple traditions that they have, or their clan used to _had_ before. And the good thing was that it was not toxic at all. Her father might still follow some of the old tradition, but she found out that her Papa is trying not to be too much of a _conservative_, considering that Mama kept on telling him that they are not dwelling on the old times anymore and everything should be changed especially for the better.

"Uhh," Gozu trailed for a second, glancing up at the trio with nervousness, until his gaze fell to the silent older Uchiha. "I'm sorry to be that rude but.."

Sasuke, obviously aware of the guard's nervousness towards him.

"What?"

The guard only gulped a mouthful of saliva, making his adam's apple bobbed up and down as he tried to keep his composure in check.

"I-I know you don't know me, but I'm completely indebted to you, Uchiha-san."

The Uchiha's eyebrows arched a little, quite perplexed at the guard.

"How?"

Naruto and Sarada looked to each other as well as the other guard beside Gozu. The three of them were totally left out about the current flow of scenario, but they chose to be silent and waited for Gozu to explain more.

"As you can see. I doubt you can still remember it. You have been through a lot, with countless battles and all." Gozu scratched his neck, "But you have saved my sister and her family on an unexpected ambush on their way to the Land of Earth, maybe a decade ago when you're still wandering around the continent, Uchiha-san."

"Ah." Sasuke nodded once in acknowledgement, "That ambush on the Land of Earth. I remember that. I indeed saved a caravan that was about to be ambushed by nukenins on that time. They were preying over travelling foreigners once they cross the said land and steal whatever they have."

"I really wanted to thank you for what you did for my sister and her family, but it happened that I don't have any ideas how to reach you. Considering that you didn't even stay for a long time as you travel around places."

"Now isn't that cool, Gozu? You met the great Uchiha Sasuke right now." the other guard commented with a grin.

"Well it's a dream come true for my part to be honest. My sister and brother-in-law really looked up to him and they cannot stop telling us about how kind Uchiha-san was." Gozu laughed and continued, "My nephews and nieces even wanted to be a hero just like him though."

Sarada's mouth opened but no sound seems to get out of her mouth. Feeling a bit warm on her chest, she stole a glance over her silent father and smiled warmly to herself.

"Way to go, Sasuke." Naruto quipped with a toothy grin.

Sasuke tch-ed to the blonde who's snickering at him. "Shut up, Naruto."

"Seriously, Uchiha-san, my sister will be so ecstatic if they heard about you again."

"How are they?" Sasuke asked.

"They were doing good! Ever since you saved them and you get rid of those nukenins out there— people started to get lively. No more terrified foreigners crossing the land anymore."

"That's good." the Uchiha nodded.

"Yes it is!"

"I wish we have more time to talk, Nanadaime-sama, Uchiha-san. But it looks like were getting nearer to Rabo-dono's tower." the other guard said as they passed the other guards who's giving them a bow.

They made it to the Superior's tower, which the two guards continued their trek inside the building with Naruto, Sasuke and Sarada behind. After a few minutes of walk on the stairs, they came to stop on a huge red door. Gozu made the knocking and after that, Gozu and the other guard opened the door in such ease. The three visitors only waited for the door to be opened and was been greeted by a man in his thirties, maybe the same age as Naruto or Sasuke.

"Welcome to our village, Nanadaime-sama, Uchiha-dono." the man said with a warm smile, bowing his head in such respect with his right arm folded over his middle. "I'm the one who leads this village. My name is Kouki Rabo. Pleased to meet you at last. When I received your letter all the way to the Land of Fire— I was very pleased and excited. In all honesty, I'm so ecstatic that the two legendary shinobi are here to visit my village. It's an honor for me to see you both."

After the pleasantries exchanged between the three adults, they finally decided to take a sit— with Naruto, Sasuke and Sarada facing the leader. They began to chatter about economic matters, about how it would be so nice if the Land of Fire will help Rabo's village to prosper. Naruto even mentioned to help them to get their own telecommunication devices, which Rabo absolutely accepted the offer.

"That's very nice of you, Nanadaime-sama! Modern telecommunications has really been so handy nowadays. The whole thing about it fascinates me!"

"Well it is," the blonde haired Nanadaime agreed, "It is much way better compared to the old times. Where you have to summon a hawk or any critters just to deliver the message all over the world."

"If you wishes to help our village, then I'll might as well offer you some, Nanadaime-sama. In exchange of helping us to be modernized, we're offering you high class weapons. Takumi Village is really abundant of top-tier blacksmiths. We're not being called as _Village of Artisans_ for nothing. We can help provide well-forged weaponry in exchange for your help. Our village will also be in your care. We would love to be partners with your village."

Naruto's grin broadened, absolutely liking the friendly exchange between them.

"That's a deal then! This is the start of a continuous camaraderie between our villages."

"Anyways, Nanadaime-sama. We both know that our village caused a ruckus before, especially with Seimei-sama's resurrection and the Four Celestial Symbols Men. I know that— _that_ didn't also went well with Kazekage-sama and for you before. And I really do apologize for all of that."

"Nah it's already fine." Naruto waved a hand, as if dismissing the said matter. "Everything was on the past. I was still a kid back then. All is forgiven. That was very long ago. Right, Sasuke?"

"Aa."

"Thank you, Nanadaime-sama, Uchiha-dono." Rabo offered a smile but then he grimaced a little; as if he was remembering something bad. "As you can see. I am so very adamant to ask assistance from the other lands, but unfortunately, the problems arising here in my village had delayed it otherwise." Rabo sighed in exhaustion, casually leaning his face on his palm while his arm being perched on his desk. "More like complicated things started to arise here, and I have no idea what to do with it. Not even me I could manage."

This piqued Sarada's interest as she suddenly asked, but in a more polite tone.

"Is something wrong here in your village, Rabo-sama?"

Rabo noticed her finally. He almost forgot about the last member of his guests, but he offered a smile nonetheless.

"You're young, but I could see the intelligence on you, young child." he smiled kindly at Sarada, "You're an Uchiha, aren't you?"

"Yes?"

"It's my daughter, Sarada." the older Uchiha commented to Rabo who only nodded in understanding, "She came with us on to the last minute, and we have no choice."

Rabo chuckled at that, "I see. I got it right away, Uchiha-dono. The uncanny resemblance was there, no doubt about it that she's your child." he continued, "Well to answer your daughter's question... well kind of, and it's not an ordinary problem by the way."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.

"Countless of accidents about some of my people being missing. And not just that, it often happens at night." Rabo sighed, slightly rubbing his temples in exhaustion. "We're actually doing our best not to cause any more panic with the villagers, but unfortunately, it was futile. Most especially what happened last week, the panic of my people got worsen."

"What happened?" It was Naruto's turn to ask him, his cerulean eyes were filled of curiosity and anticipation.

"There was a celebration here in our village last week, foreigners from different countries visited here to have some fun. But then, weird occurences happened. Many people got missing and it causes an uproar all over the village."

"What caused it? What is this weird occurences?"

"A frightened villager came to my guards, saying about shadows abducting people. Many of my people said that they had witnessed it with their own eyes, but unfortunately for not so long, they got traumatized and got so violent that they have to be restrained and had to be sent to the hospital right away. What happened that day was very chaotic, it almost made me go panic also. I don't even know what to do with it, considering that my resources here are not really that abundant— except for the weapons that we create for living. Our hospital here was not really that _advanced_. Good thing that the violent tendencies of the victims subdued for now." he sighed.

"That's very awful.." commented Sarada.

"Very awful indeed." the village's leader nodded with a somber look, "One night, manic episodes of the victims almost scare my people. They got away from the hospital and really caused havoc inside the village. And again, good to say that their manic episodes had stopped— _temporarily_."

"But the victims," Sarada asked, "are now fine, right?"

"Well they are fine as for now, young child. But I'm afraid that I need to ask other villages for help. There are no enough facilities here for patients who have manic episodes."

"If you have noticed, I assigned many guards in every area on your way here. And put my village on guard with higher security as to avoid another accident. But as you can see, the people in here are still tense. It's the outcome of what happened on the past few days."

Sarada nodded in understanding. That explains the villagers' reactions and body language earlier. They are indeed really _tense_.

Rabo seemed to talk everything what happened. Naruto, Sasuke and Sarada was listening attentively to Rabo's explanation about the accident until the said man began to mention one thing.

"It reminds me of what happened last fifteen years ago, when my father was still the one who's leading this village. I have a huge feeling that those shadows came from that _forest_."

"Forest? Was this the Cursed Forest of the Land of Rivers?"

"Yes. That _is_." Rabo's somber expression changed to a much serious look, his eyes narrowed in a fraction as he pointed this. "No one dares to cross that forest after that incident last fifteen years ago. People are even terrified to get closer to it. It was true though, whoever who entered the said forest cannot be retrieved anymore. If there's any who managed to get out of the forest, they automatically get insane. That was the outcome of entering the forest at night and coming out of it out of sheer luck."

"Rabo-dono,"

"Yes, Nanadaime-sama?"

This is the time when Naruto shifted on his seat, looking at the leader with a knowing look, "I believed that we still haven't told you about our mission yet, aren't we?"

Rabo's attention was into Naruto now and he nodded in agreement, "Oh yes, you sure haven't though. What is it?"

"An important person from the Land of Fire was been missing for seven months now, it was Uchiha Sakura. We couldn't afford to lose an important shinobi— she's badly needed."

The leader's eyebrows shot upwards in astonishment, and then his eyes fell on the serious silent older Uchiha.

_If that man is the last remaining pure Uchiha, and the young girl beside him is his daughter. Then that would be—_

"It's my wife, if you're wondering about it." Sasuke commented, Rabo nodded in understanding, while Sarada looked down at the mention of her mother.

"She was been abducted by an unknown man. And we're here to find someone who could help us."

"_Abducted_? For that long?" the leader asked in disbelief.

"We need your help, Rabo-dono. We need some access to the forest—"

"No! That's not a wise thing to do, Nanadaime-sama!" Rabo disagreed, "That's too dangerous!"

Naruto drawled a deep breath for a moment and then he replied, "Rabo-dono, we're willing to risk ourselves for this mission. And you don't have to get worried about our safety, we won't even let it happen. We only need access inside, so that we can start our searching for that portal."

"Portal?"

"Yes. And we're looking for _that_ person who actually lives in here. She can help us though and give us answers that we needed."

"Oh? Who might that be?"

"It's Nakatsukasa Kaede, that sane survivor of the accident last fifteen years ago. We need to find and talk to her, Rabo-dono." the blonde Uzumaki eyed Rabo for a second, he noticed that the leader's eyes widened at the mention of it's name but the Seventh and the Uchiha chose to be nonchalant about it.

"Very well." he nodded in acquiescence, looking at the both man in front of him, "Nakatsukasa Clan is one of the best blacksmiths here in Takumi. But I haven't heard anything about her. But still, you can visit their abode later on. She might be there."

"Thank you so much."

"No worries, Nanadaime-sama." Rabo offered a smile and then he turned his head to Sasuke; giving him a sympathetic look, "I'm sorry to hear about your wife. But don't worry, I will do my best to help you on your mission as much as possible. Let's hope for the better."

"Aa. Thank you."

Rabo stood up, which the three remaining occupants of the room mirrored the gesture. The leader smiled again for them and adjusted his tone.

"Before I send a guard to accompany you all the way to Nakatsukasa's— let me show you first where will you be resting during your stay here in our village." he gestured a hand for them to follow him, "So shall we?"

* * *

Sasuke have always been a patient man. But ever since to his wife's abduction, he's starting to doubt the level of his patience. He frequently feels uneasy and unsure most of the time. Maybe it was on the fact that he was indeed worried for Sakura's well-being, and for that; he knew seven months were just too much, too long. What if something happened to her? What if she was in danger? What if she cannot be found anymore?

He tried to push the negative thoughts away, which he could make it most of the time— but still, those traitorous thoughts could have some of him sometimes.

Which it was kind of annoying.

Sasuke knew that if he loses his patience here and let his feelings make the work for him— it would led to brash decisions, irrational thinking and uncalled impulsiveness. Not that Sasuke would like to jeopardize their mission, _not at all_.

After the serious talk about their mission and that accident from fifteen years ago, Rabo accompanied them to the room that they were going to stay. It was nothing really grandiose, but it was neat and wide and sort of too much for the three of them who were only staying for maybe a few days. Rabo offered them lunch, and they talked about a few things about the Cursed Forest. After an hour of planning, Naruto and Sasuke agreed that they will seek the girl that they were looking for in the afternoon, and the leader said he'll send a guard to accompany them to the Nakatsukasa's abode.

His eyes found the figure of his daughter, who's chattering with Naruto animatedly. Sarada was laughing with Naruto as they chatter about Naruto's poor swordsmanship skills when he was a teenager. The Nanadaime seems enjoying himself goofing off with Sarada, much to the amusement of the silent Uchiha himself; but he ignored it like it was not a bigdeal at all. Seeing Sarada grinning and laughing at Naruto's antics— it made Sasuke's rigid shoulders slumped a little. He was sort of tense ever since they set their foot in the village. But Sasuke's instincts never go wrong, he really can feel _something, _though he was not sure if it's bad or a good thing.

His Rinnegan twitched a bit as they walked in the outskirts of the village. The twitching on his left eye were starting to get uncomfortable. He can feel a slight burning that he needed to shut his eye, hoping to lessen it and stop the twitching.

As if they were sensing his discomfort, both of his companions turned to look at him. Questioning and worried gazes were up on him, and that was when Naruto asked.

"Hey Sasuke, you alright?"

"Aa." Sasuke nodded once and was been greeted by a worried Sarada.

"Papa, you look like you're in discomfort. There's something wrong?"

"Not really. It's just my eye."

"What's wrong with your eye, Sasuke? Let us see." the blonde offered which Sasuke shook his head in disagreement.

"No, I'm fine. It's nothing serious. Just an eye muscle spasm."

"If you say so." Naruto shrugged in response.

"Ah, Nanadaime-sama, Uchiha-dono." Gozu, that guard from earlier called out to them. Their attention was on the guard right away who only stopped in front of an old traditional looking house, with a '**Nakatsukasa**' plate on a wooden pole near the entrance. "We're here."

A scrawny old woman appeared from the entrance, her gray hair was nicely kempt into a mid-bun and she was wearing a grey kimono. Her face was aging; old wrinkles were plastered to her once youthful face with the aging lines visibly dominant most particularly to her forehead, and her cheeks were also a little bit saggy. Her movements were slow and her long thin fingers was reaching out to her sides to clutch on the heavy cloth of her kimono.

Barely noticing their presence, the guard let out an awkward cough to get her attention which it was been successful because the old woman was eyeing them with confusion.

"How may I help you, dear?"

"Ah, obaasan. Sorry for disturbing. But we're actually here for some purposes."

"Oh? What would that be?" this piqued the old woman's interest.

"Good afternoon, baachan. I'm Uzumaki Naruto from the Land of Fire, and here's Uchiha Sasuke and his daughter, Sarada." Naruto started to introduce his self and gesturing to his remaining companions. "We're here for a mission, and we would like to ask if Kaede-san was here?"

"Kaede?" surprise filled the older woman's aging features, "That's my granddaughter." she murmured but Naruto heard it otherwise. "She was not here with us. I'll might ask my husband about where she is."

The older woman moved back inside her abode, gesturing for them to come. "My name is Yama, by the way. Come, my dear children. Let's talk inside."

* * *

"That's sad to hear.." Yama said with a sadden look. "Seven months? That's long."

"Well.. it is." Naruto nodded once and continued, "So that's why when we found out about Kaede's case last fifteen years ago, we thought we might give this a shot. Her statement about what she saw on that night was similar to the sketch portal that I showed you."

Yama's husband looked at the sketch again, his eyes spoke sadness in it; as if he was trying to recall something so tragic.

"This is indeed similar to what Kaede's trying to explain to us before. No doubt about it."

"Junji.." Yama reached out to her husband.

"When I found out that Mirai was gone, I was shaken— _all of us_. We didn't expect for that thing to happen, let alone expecting Mirai and Kaede to get lost in the woods. So my son and his wife blamed Kaede, telling her how irresponsible of an elder sister she was for not protecting her younger sibling, for not _saving_ her."

"That night, I could remember how she cried to me nonstop, totally blaming herself about what happened. She was really devastated. Very very devastated." Junji started, still staring at the sketch with a reminiscent look. "She's trying to explain herself, defending herself that it was not her fault— that it was the _tree_ who's responsible for what happened to Mirai and to the other victims. But no one believed in her. People kept telling her that she also lost her head, no one dared to believe her statements."

"My son and his wife's incessant hurtful reprimands didn't help. Because of it, it worsen Kaede's condition. She became so violent, and she put the whole blame to herself. She even tried committing suicide a lot of times before because no one would believe in her, but the good thing was— we were there always to stop her."

Junji went silent for a moment. He felt his wife's hand covered his, squeezing it for comfort.

"Until now, Kaede still punishing herself. She's a sweet child before, but I don't know what happened. She build a wall for herself. She changed, and I don't know if it's for the better or for worse."

Yama shared the same sentiments with him. The both of them lost their two granddaughters of course.

"Where is Kaede?" the adult ravenette began to speak up, all of the heads turned to him as he broke the silence with his baritone voice. "Where is she?" the question was directed to Junji who only looked down in sadness.

"She rarely comes home, son." Junji replied somberly. "Sad to say, I have no idea where she is. I haven't seen her for months."

"That's bad." Naruto sighed and continued, "I guess we have to do Plan B, Sasuke."

"Aa. We have no choice."

"Plan B?" Yama blinked out of confusion, "What's your Plan B?"

"We'll go to the forest to search for that tree and that portal. It's our last option if we wanted to save Sakura-chan."

"No! You just can't!" Yama disagreed right away, "It's too dangerous!"

"Hehe, baachan. We have experienced war, and fought for a countless battles. We will be fine." the blonde Uzumaki gave them a grin, "You don't have to get worried. We need to retrieve our teammate, no matter what."

"It makes me wonder, son. My wife haven't told me your names yet." Junji eyed them with curiosity.

"Ah, I'm Uzumaki Naruto. And this is Uchiha Sasuke—"

"W-what?" the old man eyed them in disbelief, he adjusted his eyes— squinting at them as he tried to focus his poor eyesight. "Uzumaki? Uchiha?"

"Yes?" Naruto tilted his head on the side.

"What's wrong, dear?" Yama asked his stupefied husband worriedly.

"Yama, why you didn't tell me right away?"

"Tell you what?"

"You didn't tell me that we've been visited by the legendary heroes!"

"Haaaah? You serious? I have no idea—"

"I'm already old, yes, but I won't gonna forget heroes! Just as I thought! I saw them on TV!"

"Oh kami-sama, Junji!"

Naruto, Sasuke and Sarada only looked silently to each other. Both adults were quite oblivious about what's the bigdeal though. And their faces was like '_what's going on?'._

_Well, that escalated quickly. _Sarada chuckled inwardly, but she could feel the proudness surging through her chest as she look at them.

* * *

Darkness consumed the area like a silent wolf rounding his prey. But in that darkness, a single fueled soul was lurking out, waiting to pounce at any moment. The air then shifted, much more heavier and colder—

A barrage of kunai went flying towards the person, the aim was really swift, precise and deadly. Obviously aiming for a _kill_.

The kunais was been deflected right away, with the sound of steel hitting over steel reverberates over the place.

"Too slow!" a serious commanding voice called out from nowhere, as another barrage of kunais flew to the person— twice the speed compared to the first throw.

The person being attacked did a quick turn, trying to counter the rain of kunais with her weapon. As she executed this, a blast of air fend the kunais off— which obviously it came from the pressure of her weapon.

_Kusarigama_ blades shone in the darkness, altogether with a determined set of dark amber eyes.

"Rend!" the defender shouted, the kunais went flying from everywhere. The assailant smirked in the darkness; somewhat amused at the course of action, and then that's where the real battle started between the two.

The assailant took a weapon out of nowhere— which similar to her weapon; a pair of _kusarigama_ blades but much larger than hers. They kept on delivering deadly slashes with their weapons back and forth with an intent to kill. Clangs of steel echoed all throughout the forest, with their movements cannot be perceived by a normal eye anymore. Because of the inhumane speed, they created sparks in each clash of their weapons. They have been like this for minutes, delivering and dodging every slashes that the both of them performed.

Getting unimpressed with their blade-to-blade combat, the assailant suddenly kicked the defender on the side— earning a small yelp of pain coming from her.

While losing her momentum from the harsh kick from her attacker, she felt a wire encircling her left wrist. She felt the pain, squeezing her and holding her wrist on a vice grip. And that was when she got suddenly hauled by her assailant.

She knew what would happen next, so she only readied herself on the outcome.

Readying her _kusarigama_ blade on her right hand, she let herself getting hauled forward towards her attacker and then she poised her sharp blade for a counter attack as she go closer and closer.

She was finally meet to meet to a pair of dull eyes, with her assailant's sharp blade dangerously close to her jugular. The assailant's eyes narrowed for a moment, as she felt a cold blade pressing on her cervical area. The assailant smirked at the defender, deep amethyst eyes crinkled in satisfaction.

"Not really that good," the assailant spoke with a click of her tongue, as if she was reprimanding her casually.

She lowered her weapon and the wires on the other woman's wrist loosened, freeing her. "But not that bad either." she smiled.

"Thank you, shishou." the other woman bowed her head in respect, also lowering her _kusarigama_ to her sides.

"Good job."

Dark amber eyes gazed at her shishou as she nodded in gratitude.

"You did well, Kaede."

* * *

**Kusarigama (****鎖鎌****)- or a "chain-sickle" in English. It's a traditional Japanese weapon that consists of a **_**kama**_** (the Japanese equivalent of a sickle) on a **_**kusari-fundo**_** – a type of metal chain (kusari) with a heavy iron weight (fundo) at the end.**

* * *

_**A/N: And that's the end of the chapter four guys! Sooooo, what do you think of it? I'm sure you're curious about Kaede and this "shishou" of hers. But who would that be? Do you have any guesses? If you have, you're free to tell me on the reviews! **__**ฅ**__**'ω'**__**ฅ**_

_**I hope you like the slight humor when Junji found out about Naruto and Sasuke.**_

_**Aaaaaaaaannnnd the next chapter will be full of surprises! There's a big one coming and I think that would be pretty long but wellllllllll~ You better watch out for the next update, alright? **_

_**I hope you enjoy this chapter. Don't forget to review~**_

_**Constructive criticism is also open, you can also suggest things to me too. **_

—_**SpringfieldOfCherryBlossoms**_

_**(06-11-19)**_


	6. Chapter V

_**A/N: I'm back againnnn! Oh kami, thanks for those who reviewed the last chapter— it made me really happy as an amateur writer. I'm glad that y'all like this story so far. *cries in mirth* I love you guys, you're the best! I swear I'll do my best to complete this story. Believe it! (╥_╥)**_

_**I want to thank my close friend Verona Blithewind (her FF username) for helping me out in my story and for checking this chapter for me. She gave me lots of ideas and aaaaaaaaaaa I really love her very much! **_

_**I do not own Naruto and the canon characters in here, but I do solely owned the plot and the other OC's (except for Eiri though, it's my close friend Verona's OC)**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

**Chapter Five**

**The Rendezvous, The Forest and The Shadows**

* * *

The trio came back that night empty-handed.

When they arrived, Rabo greeted them right away as he spotted them on the hallway. But seeing Naruto sighed exasperatedly, a silent Uchiha with a blank look, and a tired and emotionally beat Sarada— it compelled Rabo to ask them about what happened on the Nakatsukasa's abode.

Naruto explained what happened with a weary look, sighing and telling about them being empty-handed— and they have no choice but to go with their _Plan B_, a.k.a. **Going-to-the-forest-and-find-the-tree-and-the-portal Plan**.

Rabo then nodded at them, somewhat unsure about their other plan; but he cannot argue with it. The Nanadaime offered a polite 'good night' and he returned it with a smile and wave. The trio then returned to their respective room, and they rested.

After the uneventful day, the three of then had risen up from their beds. They bathe and cleaned their selves for the day, and they talked about their ongoing plan.

"So, Sasuke? What can you say?" the blonde looked at his friend, asking for suggestions.

"Rabo and the Nakatsukasa said it usually happened at night. So we better go to that place at night to be exact."

"Got it. We better get ready. This night would be then."

"Aa."

"So we're not going to find this Kaede anymore?" Sarada asked to the both of them.

Naruto hm-med for a moment with his arms crossed, his eyebrows scrunched in thought. For his part, he's really eager to find that Kaede so bad. But it looks like the heavens were not on their side this time, so he have no choice but to let it pass as for now. The thought made him groan internally. He felt the burden in his shoulders getting heavier in every second.

"We'll try to find her once again. But if it's negative, then we have no choice but to proceed to Plan B. I doubt we would meet her unexpectedly this time," he explained and then he sighed, "but I'm still really hoping that we could. I'm actually quite anxious about the new entity we're facing. I'm not really sure if our strength will be enough for it."

"I researched about it." Sarada commented as she pushed the red glasses to the bridge of her nose.

Both adults looked at her for a moment and then Sarada continued.

"I just thought that I don't want to be useless if I were to accompany you both. So I've done a little research about it."

Naruto, who's quite impressed at the notion; he only grinned at her from ear to ear. "That's impressive, Sarada! Just as expected of Sakura-chan's daughter! So what do you know about it?"

Sarada started, her obsidian eyes were totally focused as she spoke.

"I checked a lot of books about it. I even compared them to see what's more believable, but it seems like those books didn't hold any much information compared to the scrolls that Mitsuki's guardian lent me."

"_Mitsuki's guardian_?" Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, looking at Sasuke right away to see his reaction. "You didn't mean—" _Okay, this is bad. _

"You went to Orochimaru's lair on your own?" It was Sasuke's turn to ask, absolutely rebutting Naruto with his obvious question. He spoke monotonously, but Naruto knew that he could hear the unpleased tone on it.

"No, I don't. I have Mitsuki and Cho Cho with me. I didn't went alone."

"He didn't do anything wrong?"

Sarada eyed her father with confusion, shaking her head as she replied. "No, he didn't. In fact, he was kind enough to welcome us there."

Sasuke didn't respond to that, mismatched eyes stared at her for a couple of seconds. He then closed his eyes, leaning on the wall behind him.

Naruto, being worried that Sasuke might lash out in a matter of time. He turned his whole attention to Sarada who's attention were still on Sasuke.

"So you went to Orochimaru, yes? What have you find?"

Sarada— who heard his question, she responded, "Mitsuki mentioned to me that his parent, Orochimaru-san— knows a little bit about magic. So that's why I asked him if I could talk to him more about it. He told me a couple of things about magic. He even lent me some scrolls to read."

Naruto was quite surprised at this but he nodded in understanding nonetheless.

"I see, well that's kind of him indeed." he mused. _Good to hear that he didn't do anything shady though.._

"He mentioned a couple of things to me." Sarada mentioned to them, "Like how magic works, and how it was possible."

"Oh? And then?"

"He told me the same thing what Uncle Kakashi had told me." Sarada shrugged momentarily, "About magic is different to jutsu and etcetera. And welp, you know the rest."

"That's really informative coming from Orochimaru," Naruto snorted a little as he said this jokingly, "I expect something really _bizarre_."

"But.." Sarada glanced at them both, her obsidian eyes were focused with her brows slightly scrunched in concentration, "He told me that it is possible that this _magic_ has been practiced by some other shinobi countries, but it has not been proven yet. Orochimaru-san even mentioned that magic is not really that different to ninjutsu. Well, they are different in terms of how to execute it. Such as ninjutsu, wherein you have to weave hand seals; while magic came from an unknown force— like energy, elements and other phenomenal stuffs."

"However, they might differ in terms of how to execute it. But he said that probably, magic and jutsu were not _that_ different at all. If ninjutsu needs to be done by weaving hand seals with the help of the chakra within a person; he theorized that maybe magic also needs another kind of chakra force in order for this to be executed."

"I see. I thought so too. After speculating for so long and rummaging through old scrolls.. Kakashi-sensei mentioned to us that it is possible that some other shinobi countries were practicing this kind of stuff. Considering there are a few scrolls and books pertaining about magics, meaning they do _exist_ in our world but alas, quite rare. Honestly, I didn't know anything about this, not until now we found out who abducted Sakura-chan. I thought it was only a myth."

"But the main question is where though? Where did it came from?"

"I believed that it's origin didn't came from our world." Sasuke mentioned after a few minutes of deliberation, "I open portals, travelled to different kinds of dimensions. Knowing that some plane of existence _do_ exist, then it is possible for alternative worlds to exist aside from our world. That might have been a theory of mine as for now, but it _is _possible."

Naruto pondered about his statement carefully, totally considering his idea because he thought his friend was correct for that manner. Sasuke travels to different dimensions, it's his specialty ever since he received his Rinnegan from the Sage of the Six Paths. So there's no way he would be so uncertain of that. He most likely agree with his theories in full conviction, because most of the time, his smarty calculating theories proved to be real afterall. Sometimes, he felt really so inept in terms of theorizing— but it doesn't mean he's not capable, it's just that making and establishing hypothesis was not his _forte_. That's all.

That's why somehow, he's glad that he had a smart best friend who share his theories with him. It helped him gradually to excel in that _matter_, afterall, being stucked with two intelligent teammates ever since he was a noisy prepubescent child in his genin days was a nice warm-up to screw his agonizing slow unknowing head.

"Well, I could agree with you to that. We fought a goddess before. With _them_ knowing they happened to exist— then I guess this magic thing is not new at all. What if this also connects to Kaguya? It's not impossible, knowing how shady she was."

"That's a possibility. But we have yet to prove it. Don't forget to ask Kurama from time to time if he sense something similar to Kaguya's trail. We cannot afford to let it pass. It might cause havoc once again."

"Got it."

* * *

Hearing the both adults exchange, the young Uchiha cannot help herself to listen more keenly. They sounded foreign to her, but she know that they absolutely knew what they were talking about. Ever since she had accompanied them for weeks, she saw many sides of her Papa and the Nanadaime. Sometimes they would casually banter like teenagers, throwing funny insults and vice versa, or that Naruto would sometimes crack a joke about her Papa's anti-social nature while her Papa would gave him his nastiest glares that would instantly make her cower somehow; but the effect of it to Naruto was not the reaction that she was expecting at all. He would laugh really hard, absolutely unaware of her Papa's killing intent aura— meaning he's already getting into his nerves, but still thankfully it was just only a mere show-off. She knew that they cared for each other. Being childhood teammates has it perks somehow, and it's like they are not being old enough for casual banters and such. She somehow really found that amusing though.

But then she had also noticed that they worked in a synchronized manner whenever they have a job to be done right away. It was really perfect, it was like they have done those things ever since they were born. It was been done naturally. Sometimes they would cast side way glances and nod to each other without saying a word. Or they speculate things and scenarios that was quite believable. And that's when she heard about them fought a goddess. _Goddess_? Why she didn't know about it?

She was about to ask that thing when she remembered something from the depths of her confused mind.

"I forgot to tell you this." Sarada then eyed the both adults, as if trying to see their reactions to her upcoming statement, "In his youth, Orochimaru-san mentioned that he met a magician."

This piqued both Naruto and Sasuke's attention. Naruto's eyebrows were raised while Sasuke looked at his daughter as if to tell her to continue— to elaborate more.

"Orochimaru-san told me it happened in his earliest days. When he was travelling all over the world to conduct research for his experimentations," this gained Naruto and Sasuke's attention more, "and to gain more subordinates in his leadership." this made Naruto snort half-heartedly which made Sarada arch an eyebrow inwardly, "He said he encountered an unusual woman who had engaged a fruitless battle with him. He told me she have a weird life source, he couldn't determine if it's a different kind of chakra or that she was only playing with his eyes and senses. But Orochimaru-san said that he knew he just encountered a person who's not to be underestimated so easily. Her movements, her skills was totally different and beyond. He felt so off when he saw her."

Naruto and Sasuke's full attention was on her as she speak. Listening to her in all ears. Having both of them listen to her in that way, she couldn't help but to squirm inwardly. They were regarding her as if she was on the same level with them, like a full-grown adult who's explaining her side to her other teammates. Somehow she felt a pang in her chest, the thought makes her remember her Mama so badly. She saw once the Uchiha matriarch talking to Naruto and Sasuke in all the same authorativeness, her arms neatly folded over her average, well-endowed chest— her emerald eyes were gleaming in pure knowledge and intelligence and she spoke in a business-liked tone that she always used when she's barking orders in the hospital.

_How I really missed Mama. _

"He mentioned about '_arcana_' though."

Baffled, the blonde Jinchūriki raised an eyebrow at this. "_Arcana_? What's that?" he asked, quite bemused.

"It's a mystery, an unexplainable phenomenon. It is what the stranger told him..." she said and continued, recalling what the snake sannin have told her. "She creates _spells_ as she weaves them through words, like an incantation and brought it to life."

"Oh? Sounds new to my ears and... _creepy_." _Brought it to life? Damn, sounds like Kabuto. _"Arcana, huh?" Naruto did a thinking pose, his prosthetic fingers was on his chin as he pondered about it. "I never heard that word before. It sounds foreign. Have you heard it somewhere, Sasuke?"

"Aa. Orochimaru had mentioned it once."

"Really? Why the hell he hadn't mentioned this thing to us?" Naruto frowned, "Not even telling us it was real and that he happened to _witnessed_ it."

"It's because Orochimaru doesn't care about the village before. He had only mentioned it, accidental slip of tongue that is."

"If only I knew that he knows something about it, then I wouldn't have wasted my time brooding over unknown people who I can ask about these magic thingy. It's frustrating y'know!"

Sasuke snorted derisively, which to Sarada's amusement of her father's unusual behavior. "So I've been told. We're just on the same boat."

"Somehow Sasuke, I just think that I'm rubbing on you in a bad way. It was a surprise that you didn't even thought of seeking Orochimaru to ask about it." the blonde sighed who only shook his head in disapproval, "Wasn't that a tiny mistake coming from you?"

"Hn."

"Hey! I'm asking you, I'm serious!"

"Whatever, Naruto. You're being noisy again."

"Oh yeah?" the blonde challenged, his cerulean eyes shone in mischief, "Looks like _Orochimaru's top favorite pupil_ has now losing his overall time glory." he flashed a crooked grin, "What happened to the Serpent's apprentice?"

That made Sarada blinked in pure surprise when she heard that statement coming from Naruto. _Orochimaru's top favorite pupil_? _Serpent's apprentice_? What? Her Papa? Really?

This made the Uchiha patriarch frown in annoyance, absolutely annoyed at the other adult's childish antics and also quite oblivious to Sarada's change of expression.

"Shut up, Naruto. You're being too annoying."

"Make me!" Naruto rebuffed.

"Papa was Orochimaru-san's pupil?" she suddenly asked out of curiosity.

Naruto and Sasuke froze for a second, presumably forgetting the young teen's presence. The former scratched the back of his head, as if he was been caught red handed and was awkwardly eyeing his best friend anxiously. He thought that being a loud mouth would be the death of him someday.

"I, err, well.." the Nanadaime fidgeted.

"Is it true, Papa? Are you?" Sarada pressed the question again, cat-shaped obsidian eyes were peering over her father as she waited for an answer. She just wanted to know. She wanted to know about his Papa even though by little.

She noticed right away that the air shifted between her and her Papa, it was so thick that she thought of slicing it with a kunai to break the weird tension. A few moments of silence, the older Uchiha finally turned his head to his daughter. His single obsidian eye—that is much identical to hers— only searched for her face.

Sarada was obviously anticipating his answer, but his face was quite unreadable as if he was thinking about something inside his head.

"Yes," Her Papa finally answered, he paused for a second and then continued. "I was."

To say that Sarada wasn't surprised was a complete understatement, but she did her best not to let her astonishment to slip in front of her father. It still made her wonder about why she hadn't heard it from anyone that her father was a pupil of Orochimaru though. According to Mitsuki, his parent, Orochimaru was a _sannin_, a **snake sannin** at that. And one who cannot be underestimated.

And if her Papa was a pupil of a _snake sannin_, then she has no doubt he's very strong as hell.

_A giggle passed through her lips, "Hm.. Actually your Papa is really strong, Sarada! I'm sure you're going to surpass him someday, and he will be so very proud of you. We will be proud of you— of whatever you become!"_

Sarada only smiled as a memory of her mother flashed in her mind. A smile that is quite forced that didn't even reached her somber eyes.

_In order for me to be sure and see both of you being proud of me soon. Then come back to us first, Mama._

* * *

It was in the afternoon when they started planning for the night. They devised some plans, Plan A and B just in case everything may go wrong. Rabo and the trio had started to discuss everything about the forest. He gave cautions and precautions about entering the forest, and he even instructed that it's better that the three of them should stick together no matter what. The superior of the village pointed out that it was quite dangerous for the genin to enter the forest, which much to Sarada's annoyance.

"Are you sure you're going to let her come with you? That forest is really dangerous." Rabo asked worriedly, looking at Naruto and Sasuke; totally oblivious to Sarada's scowl.

"Well, it's true that the forest is really quite dangerous. I have second thoughts about Sarada coming with us though—"

"No! I'm coming with you, Nanadaime-sama! No one can change my mind. I'm coming." Sarada pressed more as she disagreed right away to Naruto's suggestion. The thought only made her blood go boil. No one in hell she's going to be left out again. Not _again_ in Kami's name.

Naruto scratched his cheek, his cerulean eyes were looking at Sarada and then to Sasuke who's only silent for the whole time. He knew that his friend was ready to snap at any moment. Afterall, Sasuke's silence really spoke in volumes— that he was in the middle of weighing his thoughts either giving his daughter a cold shoulder or to bite at her with a nasty remark about Sarada being too hardheaded and couldn't mind her own business.

"Sasuke?"

"Let her be. It's her decision, not mine."

Sarada's defiant expression melted right away as she looked at her father who only glanced to see the stupefied faces of Rabo and Naruto. As usual, Sasuke's face was being unreadable, but Sarada can see the look of resignation in her Papa's masculine yet soft features.

"You sure about that?"

"Aa." Sasuke confirmed it again, his mismatched eyes found Sarada's excited ones. "I can protect her if that's what you're worrying about. She's my responsibility afterall."

"I can protect her too, y'know. Just making sure you're not being against with it." Naruto said, offering a smile at his aloof best friend.

Sasuke didn't respond back, but he heard him nonetheless.

"J-just as you may know, I can protect myself, mou!" Sarada said in rebuttal, giving Naruto and Sasuke her most determined look. "I'm capable of protecting myself! I'm not a dead weight, shannaro!"

Naruto and Rabo blinked, obviously amused at Sarada's determination. But the former only grinned at her and gave her his trademark fist bump which she returned the same gesture by bumping her own fist with his.

"That's the spirit, Sarada! That's the real kunoichi!"

Unbeknownst to them, the older Uchiha smirked at his daughter's determination. He really knew where that fiery determination came from, and he can't help but to feel a swell of pride in his chest for his daughter.

He saw that look a lot of times before, not only from his mother but also from his wife. It amused him in beyond, and somehow, it was his favorite look of his wife if he can still recall his young adult days. He can remember how it really irked her being helpless and she doesn't like to be treated as damsel in distress.

Sasuke can also remember her mother Mikoto too. He can remember her mother's defiant expression as she always disagree to his father everytime they argue about putting her in the sidelines. When he was a child, he couldn't understand about why his mother chose to be angry than to be thankful that she doesn't have to do anything with their clan. But now that he was an adult, and a husband of a number one spunky, witty, yet down-to-earth woman Haruno Sakura— had made him finally understand that mind boggling characteristic of most women with amazing resolution.

They contined to plan until the bright blue sky faded into orangeness. It was already quarter to six and the trio agreed leaving the place in two hours. They cleaned theirselves, they ate and talked with Rabo before leaving. And when they were about to leave, the leader only waved at them and he wished them good luck.

* * *

They were been greeted by the cold evening as they stepped out of the building. Sasuke, being a veteran in travelling on foot and before they could leave the place— he suggested that his two companions should wear a thick cloak to keep them warm all throughout the night. Rabo, being a considerate and hospitable leader he was, he offered Naruto and Sarada some clean black cloaks; almost similar color to Sasuke's long cloak but much newer.

Sasuke and his two companions started to walk in the village. They passed a lot of buildings, stores and people and they just simply walked in silence; absolutely distracted with their own thoughts.

For a certain Uchiha, he much prefer silence. He was thinking a lot of things that he cannot afford to be distracted right now. In his mind, he kept on replaying the informations that they had acquired so far. The anticipation that he felt in his gut was there, churning his insides, compelling him to just move and walk more faster. He just realized that instead of dreading what they might encounter in the said forest, what he really felt right now was only pure unbidden excitement.

"It's such a waste that we couldn't find the woman though." Naruto sighed, as he tried to open a conversation in their silent group. "I bet she would be much of a greater help to us."

Looking at the blonde Uzumaki in silence, he couldn't help but to agree with him, but he kept that small piece of thought in his mind of course.

Like Naruto, Sasuke was really eager, or had anticipated to see this Nakatsukasa survivor— not only because he knew she could help them in their mission, but he also need answers.

Answers about the mystery of the forest. The _truth_ behind it.

"It makes me wonder why she had left her family. Her grandparents," Sarada looked down for a moment, looking at the rough ground as they walk. "seems to be so worried. She's lucky that she have a family who's very concerned for her."

Sasuke eyed his daughter but he didn't say anything. He knew how emotional and empathetic his daughter was; a distinct trait that she obviously got from her mother, and he couldn't disagree with Sarada because it made him wonder too.

Somehow, there's a part of him— that maybe, he understand why that Kaede chose to flee from her family instead of staying with them. He knew what's the feeling to be dejected, to be accused, to be _blamed_, and to be looked down upon. How much more if it came from her family, no doubt that would be too devastating indeed.

Maybe, that woman left because she wanted to prove something to herself. Not just for herself and her loss, but something more personal. Probably to her family at that.

"So I guess this is it then? Now that we have no hopes on finding Kaede-san in this village, then I think we have no choice but to rely to ourselves and to the limited information that we got."

"Well, it's not like we have a choice aren't we? We need to get to the forest and find that _tree_ as soon as possible."

Sarada and Naruto was too busy throwing different statements on the same particular topic that they haven't noticed Sasuke to recoil for a moment with his nin sandals skidded to a stop.

Sasuke glanced at his chatty companions before him who were still oblivious as ever. His eyes were carefully shifting from place to place. He noticed that in this part of the village— it was more lively with many people, small restaurants and stores. His calculations and keen observations made him to conclude that maybe they were on the center part of the village.

Sasuke wouldn't say that he was a very good sensor, but as an Uchiha— being able to perceive and sense anything out of extraordinary was always been natural for him. Tracking and sensing chakras right away was not really his forte just like his former red head ex-teammate Karin does—

—but those lowly shinobi will be damned if they had thought that he, Uchiha Sasuke wouldn't sense anything wrong nor strange in his scope of vision.

_Not on my vicinity. _

With a flash of his Sharingan in his right eye, that's when he finally sense someone's uninvited presence lurking somewhere far away to his right. The unknown presence seems to pick him up right away, so by noticing that he had acknowledged his unbidden presence— that's where the intruder scrabbled right away like a rat being spotted by a large cat and then ran as if to escape out of the place.

Naruto, who stopped walking when he realized that Sasuke was already behind them fifteen feet away, "Hey, why have you stopped, Sasuke? Is there something wro—"

That's where Sasuke chased after the unknown individual, absolutely startling both his surprised and alarmed companions; and then he disappeared out of their vision in a blink.

"Sasuke, wait!"

"Papa!"

He paid them no mind as he pushed chakra in his lower limbs to chase after the person who was intently eavesdropping on them a moment ago. Sasuke had noticed the presence beforehand when Naruto and his daughter was conversing about their person of interest. He didn't mind it at first because he thought that maybe the person— or a civilian just didn't meant to overhear nor eavesdrop in his companions' conversation. But then, what really made him more suspicious— was when the person didn't even budge a little, and was listening to them intentionally. He didn't even ignore the fact how the person tensed as he overheard Naruto and Sarada's simple conversation about mentioning the forest and the tree.

Sasuke was sure that this person he was chasing was not a civilian. With his kekkei genkai following the swift movements of the person from behind, he eyed the thick brown cloak billowing over his silhouette with the hood masking his head and face securely.

He just remembered that wearing cloaks with a hood was strictly prohibited in the village. How come this person had managed to slipped in?

Their game of chase had continued, with neither of them backing out. A barrage of flying kunais were suddenly directed to him and with a swift motion to his left; he simply avoided it with ease. Sasuke, quite unimpressed at the simple kunai assault; he just noticed how desperate the person was to get rid of him. Another barrage of chakra coated kunais were on him in a second, with his infamous three tomoe Sharingan saw through it in slow motion. He deflected it with his katana, but the impact on it in his weapon made him think in wonder.

That was a chakra infused kunais. The person who threw it was obviously aiming his vital parts. If he was not being careful with it, it would kill him in an instant. But that's not the thing that somehow interests him.

That simple attack were an old move. He knew that basic move somewhere and he's going to find it out soon.

When Sasuke deflected the chakra infused kunais with his sword in an inhumane speed, he did his best not to let it graze his person to avoid unnecessary painless paralysis. A paralyzed Uchiha was the last thing in his mind.

He heard the person let out an annoyed 'tch' under his cloak, he then suddenly threw more kunais with chakra strings on his way— almost reminding him of that chocolate haired weapon master from Might Guy's team (that he swore that the person he was pursuing has lots of pointed weapons in his arsenal, just like that chocolate haired kunoichi).

Sasuke, being aware that he couldn't get rid of the chakra stringed kunais with a simple katon— his three tomoe Sharingan circled lazily, turning into a six pointed star of his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.

Before the kunais could inflict him, his advanced kekkei genkai did it's work. Black flames started to gnaw the kunais along the chakra filled strings with his Amaterasu, earning a somewhat alarmed gasp from his opponent.

Taking advantage of his opponent's astonishment, his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan started to control the black flames with ease. From the kunai to the strings, his eye aimed the tips of his opponent's cloak and started attacking it with his Amaterasu. Like a ravenous animal, the black flames scattered in seconds. Making the person under the cloak eyed it with unbidden alarm.

_It's time for you to get rid of that cloak. _

Just like what Sasuke had anticipated, his opponent started to fumble on the thin ropes of his cloak. Their chase had still continued until they found their selves on a wide clearing.

_The forest_, he mused.

Keeping his eyes pinned on the unknown person, he scanned the area with scrutiny. He could tell that the place they were in was the entrance to the said forest at the end of the village. Just like what the Takumi leader had told them— he spotted a quite large boulder with a few cracks on it's center and a red rope encircling around it.

"An Uchiha huh?" the person murmured, discarding the burning cloak and letting it fall until it vanished into dust with the black flames, "It's been a while I have seen one."

Sasuke turned his eyes at the sound. The moonlight seem to highlight the silhouette of the other person and that's where he was greeted with a pair of impassive amethyst eyes and a body built of a woman's.

"Who are you?"

The woman eyed him with a smirk adorning her lips. The moonlight clashed with her green, grass colored tresses that was framing the sharp angles of her quite strong feminine features. Her amethyst eyes were gleaming like purple diamonds in the dark. Like taunting Sasuke to make her speak even further.

"I'm not obliged to tell," she answered finally, but she kept her eyes on the Uchiha without backing out. "It was a common courtesy that you cannot give your name to a mere stranger that you couldn't trust, don't you think?"

His eyes narrowed in threat as he eyed the woman cautiously, obviously ignoring her smartass reply. "Then why are you listening to us?" Sasuke asked, finally beating the bush.

She chuckled. "Again, I am not telling."

"Very well."

Sasuke moved in an untraceable speed towards her, his katana clang-ed with the woman's kusarigama blades. Both eyes narrowed in challenge as they began to clash each other in such inhumane force— neither of them backing out.

The Uchiha inwardly thought that his opponent was quite formidable. Her speed almost rivalled his and her fighting style was quite different, but it was refined and precise. She's trying to aim his vulnerable points by doing some fake attacks, but Sasuke was not the one who can be fooled easily by that. They continued their clash, the sound of their sharp weapons hitting each other reverberates all over the quiet forest.

The kunoichi almost had his neck but she only grazed the thick material of his cloak protecting the flesh within. She then tried to knee Sasuke in his gut, but with his clever _shunshin_ technique; he disappeared in her line of vision—much to her annoyance— before he reappear behind her to slash her with his katana but she only parried it with her own blade.

"Impressive speed. It's been a while I fought someone this impressive in a close-to-close combat." the woman praised in tone of an interest, but Sasuke only ignored it with silence. Both of them were pushing their blocked weapons to each other, trying to fight for dominance.

"So..." she spoke again with a slight push of her curve blades which Sasuke only pushed his katana blade in return, "What are you doing here? What business do you have with this village and the _tree_?"

"First... Why do you see me as a threat?" he brusquely replied, earning a cocky grin from the woman.

"Such a tight-lipped man eh?" she teased with a smirk, "Reminds me of someone that I know."

Sasuke was about to make another move when a familiar and also unfamiliar surge of chakra were headed in their way. Noticing his opponent recoil for a moment, he felt a sharp tingling force jamming his gut by a knee cap— making him fell back as the moment it touched him of course. He took that as a cue to leap away from her, making sure to leave a safe distance with his opponent and to avoid another slash from her kusarigama too.

"Sasuke!" Naruto bellowed with the young Uchiha on tow, his cerulean eyes were narrowing in pure annoyance. "You didn't have to run away like that!"

"Shut up, Naruto. Leaving you both there was not my utmost importance as of now."

"You bastar—"

Naruto didn't managed to finish his trademark insult for the Uchiha when the woman suddenly duplicated herself in five bunshins. All of her fake doppelgangers and the real her threw sharp kunais with wires in such speed and deadly precision.

Sasuke and Naruto was readying their selves to execute moves that could block the attack. But when they were about to attack back, a sound of continuous 'poof' rang in their ears. It didn't took long enough for them to know what it is, the doppelgangers vanished the moment it poofed and leaving a white smoke in it's wake.

Naruto, quite surprised at the scenario folded in his line of vision— his eyes found the guarded stance of Sasuke's child who's not far from them. Her Sharingan eyes glared in pure determination with some shurikens poised between her knuckles.

_Shurikenjutsu, huh? _Naruto inwardly said in pure amazement. _That's way hella fast and well aimed! Just expected for an Uchiha. _

While still keeping his guard from their opponent, Sasuke couldn't help the smirk grazing his lips at his daughter's amazing display of agility. He admit though, that was a very good aim and the speed was really quite admirable.

"Damn it, Sasuke. Y'know that we're wasting our time here!" the blonde called out to his friend once again, but he positioned himself next to him; eyes wary on the woman in front of them. "We don't have enough time! We cannot afford to waste this whole night! We need to get moving!"

Sasuke, still keeping his eyes on their opponent only replied. "This woman knows something. She attacked me first."

"Oh? This better be important than our mission, Teme! If Kakashi-sensei found out that we're dilly-dallying here, I'll might lose my _title_!"

"Quiet, dead last." Sasuke gritted his teeth out of annoyance, ready to give Naruto his nastiest glare.

Before Naruto could reply another nasty retort, a stunned voice made them halt for a second. Looking at the quite bewildered face of the woman who's just attacking them a moment ago with kunais and wires.

"Kakashi...?" the name rolled out of her lips, as if she was recalling something familiar. "Hatake Kakashi? You know him?"

"Before we could answer that. Just who are you?" Naruto asked in an authorative manner.

"Shishou!" a woman appeared suddenly, nearing herself on the bewildered amethyst eyed kunoichi. Her amber eyes scanned the area, seeing unfamiliar faces that made her really wary. Readying her weapon under her cloak, she began to speak again. "Who are they, Shishou? What's going on?"

While ignoring the woman beside her, her eyes fixated on the newcomers. "What is your mission?" the so-called Shishou asked carefully to Naruto and Sasuke, "Why are you desperate to find the tree in _there_?" she motioned her chin on the way inside the forest, "What is it you are after?"

"It's confidential. How could we even trust you?" Naruto pressed even further.

At this point, the woman in question pursed her lips in annoyance.

"...You're here because of the _tree_?" the second woman said incredulously, stunned even. She eyed her shishou who went silent for a second and then her gaze was back to Naruto. "Why?"

"Our comrade went missing."

"Missing?" she repeated, either in bewilderment or question— they didn't know.

"Yes. Our comrade might be in danger right now if we waste our time doing nothing in here. We planned on entering this forest in search for that tree. We need to find it as soon as possible." the blonde Jinchūriki explained once more.

"Who are you?" Sasuke started, referring to the woman he clashed with and continued; lowering his katana on his side. "You seem to know Kakashi."

The woman fixed him an unreadable look. It was like she was having internal debates in her mind but Sasuke chose to be silent— simply waiting for an answer. The woman was not on the offensive anymore, so he took this a good sign.

"I know him. We used to work together before." she finally lowered her weapon as she spoke. "The name's Eiri. Fujima Eiri."

"You work with Kakashi-sensei? So that means you work in Konoha then?"

From her aggressive attitude, comes at ease. She smiled softly.

"I was..." she said, eyeing her apprentice beside her— but she then moved her gaze away from the other woman, greeting mismatched ones and cerulean. "Why are you after my apprentice Kaede?"

Naruto was stunned at this, along with Sarada and the other woman who only looked at Eiri with an incomprehensible look.

"They're looking for me?" she asked, confused. "Shishou?"

"You're Kaede?" Naruto asked incredulously, his eyes were widening in wonderment. "_Nakatsukasa Kaede_?"

_Looks like Sasuke really did the most of the work tonight. _

She blinked, but she nodded nonetheless. "Yes, I am Kaede. Why are you looking for me?"

"You were the person who survived this forest way back fifteen years ago right?" Sarada finally spoke after being silent for the whole time. "We need your help, Nakatsukasa-san."

* * *

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto and this is Uchiha Sasuke," Naruto started the introductions once again and then he pointed to the young child who just talked to her. "And she's Sarada. Sasuke's daughter."

Kaede looked at Sarada for a moment and then her gaze fell on Naruto and Sasuke. "How may I help you?"

Sasuke stretched his sole arm, giving her a paper. Kaede, being curious as ever and intrigued— she held the paper and scanned it with her eyes. For not so long, her eyes widen in pure recognition. She knew what _that_ was. She knew what _that_ sketch means. She saw it before. She saw it with her _both eyes. _

"This is magic circle." she murmured, "No doubt about it."

"It is. We're aware." Sasuke said curtly, putting the sketch back inside his coat. "What do you know about it?"

Kaede looked at him for a second, her lips turned into a grim line— but she replied nonetheless. "I saw that _thing_ before my sister disappeared." her face lost it's glow and then continued, "I tried my best to reach out for her, to save her. But I—" her clenched fists softened, the bitterness in her face began to ebbed down. "—I failed."

Silence. But she paid this no mind.

She continued as if she was talking to no one. "But I swear, I'll do everything to save her this ti—"

"Let's make a deal,"

This somewhat surprised her inwardly but she kept herself on guard. "Deal?"

"Help us." Sasuke answered, earning a surprised face of Kaede. "We have the same goal, aren't we?"

The Nakatsukasa was silent for a second. _What is he talking about? _

Her unbidden curiosity really won this time. There was something on this man that really intrigued her in some way.

_Ah. _

"Who are you saving?" Kaede eyed the older Uchiha in complete curiosity.

"My wife."

Kaede nodded slowly, looking at him with sympathy but Sasuke ignored it.

"If you wish for us to help you. Tonight is not the perfect moment to infiltrate the forest."

"What do you mean tonight is not the _perfect moment_?" Naruto asked, quite displeased as he heard that. There's no way they're going to waste their time doing nothing afterall—

"Tomorrow is full moon. It means the forest is in it's full power and also the weakest. If we want to infiltrate it without killing and driving ourselves insane— then it must be tomorrow night in full moon."

"Very well," Sasuke sheathed his katana back on it's scabbard, "Tomorrow night it is."

Naruto only sighed but he nodded nonetheless.

* * *

Not far away from the mouth of the forest— the five shinobis stayed on a clearing and made their camp. The trio's day had almost went uneventful. If not for Sasuke's unexpected rendezvous with the kusarigama wielder— they would be left empty handed for the whole day. Naruto sighed inwardly in pure relief for the sudden changes of scenario. Who would have thought that the gods in heavens had finally gave in to their wishes?

When they met the two shinobi, namely Fujima Eiri and Nakatsukasa Kaede; they made a deal (coming first from Sasuke himself) to help the three of them to their mission. Which to his much relief, both women agreed.

He also found out that Eiri and Kaede had been wandering for so long. Eiri, the green haired kusarigama wielder who was also the last of her kin— has been a vagabond for a decade and a half. She travelled into many places, not totally planning of settling down somewhere nice and peaceful. If Naruto had to guess just based on his small observations to the said woman, he would say that she was atleast the same age as Kakashi or a little bit younger.

They chatted for a while, exchanging informations about their plans back and forth. When their conversations delve into much deeper, the Leaf shinobis was surprised to find out that the Fujima was an ex-teammate of the infamous Copy nin, Hatake Kakashi. She even mentioned that after the downfall of her clan, Minato's genin team found her and just brought her in their village. She told them that she stayed there for many years and she used to work on a special interrogation team in Konoha with Morino Ibiki as her superior. But after she disclosed that information to them, she didn't say anything more. Eiri seems to know both Naruto and Sasuke in her stay there (much to his chagrin and Sasuke's silent disbelief), almost chuckling at the fact that she used to listen to Kakashi's hopeless rants about his two rambunctious prepubescent students always fighting like cats and dogs. When Eiri found out it was already late, she bid them 'good night' and retired in a tree. Sarada was next though, absolutely unaware that she had fell asleep with her full weight pressing on him. Surprise filled the older Uzumaki's features as he looked at Sasuke, but the Uchiha only went to his side to fetch his daughter in a gentle hold— moving her and putting her on a nearby tree bark to sleep.

"Nakatsukasa-san, why the full moon?"

Kaede met his cerulean eyes for a moment, but then she's back staring on the fire pit; as if it was the most interest thing to be stared at. "I don't know, Uzumaki-san. But everytime when it's full moon, I kept hearing this weird melody inside my head."

"Melody?" he asked back in befuddlement.

"Yes. That's what had lured me and my younger sister at the first place. It's because of that damn melody. That tree caused it." she seethed, hands balled into tight fists. She looked at Sasuke, noticing his blank stare ahead all the way to the forest. "What about you in there, Uchiha-san?"

Sasuke looked at her, but not saying anything.

"What happened to your... wife?"

"Missing." he answered really curtly. Seeing the woman arch an eyebrow at his brusquely reply, he only ignored it.

"It was hard isn't it?" she trailed for a moment, sadness began to seep in her tone. "When I lost my sister because of our own foolishness back then, I had almost lost myself too."

The night went well for them, they slept and woke up before the sun could come out to greet them. It was almost a normal day for them, they ate, devised plans and conversed for the whole day— patiently waiting for the night to come.

So when the night comes, anticipation coursed through them— evoking some unbidden adrenaline and excitement in their veins. Their attention caught the perfect roundness of the night full moon, illuminating them with it's luminous light. They prepared for their selves once again, and began to proceed as they entered the area.

Sasuke's kekkei genkai was activated the moment they entered the forest. Like it doesn't even existed there, he noticed a thin sheet of invisible barrier— but with the help of his Sharingan, he saw through it right away like a black dot drawn on a white paper. They just easily passed through it that he's not sure if it's kind of an old _alert system_ or something that would warn anyone with their intrusion. The energy of the said barrier was powerful, it made him curious to the point of reaching out his own arm through it. _Nothing happened_, he mused and pulled his arm away. His three tomoe Sharingan scanned the area warily, there was something in the forest that he couldn't really comprehend. he could sense an unearthly energy ahead and somehow, it unease the hell out of him. The energy was quite similar to the aura that the Rabbit Goddess possessed, but much bigger, complex, unknown and _definitely raw_.

"This energy.." Naruto murmured, narrowing his eyes ahead where he can feel the same energy that Sasuke also felt.

Sasuke started to walk forward with the others following behind his trail. They disappeared on the pitch black nothingness, letting the darkness consume them fully as they finally made their way inside. With his kekkei genkai on, he didn't have any difficulties on perceiving his surroundings— he can still see well with it. Behind him on his right side next to Naruto, he could see his daughter with her own dōjutsu activated. Like a formidable beast with glowing red eyes, Sarada's sharingan was the most bright-ish red that he ever seen. Not even his Sharingan or Itachi's rivalled hers in color, her Sharingan were just too bright— like shimmering bright rubies glinting in the darkness; almost like a beacon amidst the dark abyss they were in.

They kept walking in complete silence. He doesn't know if how many minutes had passed, but for him it felt like hours of walking in a loop, or some sort kind of limbo— but Sasuke didn't dwell on it too much for he was really adamant on finding where that immense raw energy came from afterall.

As they continued their trek, the air started to shift into something more cold; almost making them recoil when a breeze of cold air touched their exposed fleshes.

"_Shit_," a breathy, anxious and uncertain voice behind him caught his attention— while snapping his head towards the owner of the noise, or the voice; he found that it was Kaede who made such uncomfortable noises.

She was really stunned and frozen in her position. Seeing her stop in her tracks made them halt in their trek also.

Eiri looked at her apprentice who's already a few feet behind them. "Kaede? What's wrong—"

"Watch out!"

Suddenly, dark shadows started to move towards them, enclosing their lower limbs in a firm lock— totally holding them in place with their feet deeply rooted on the ground. Sarada made a noise of panic in her throat, looking at him and the others who's also in the same predicament as hers.

"W-what's happening?" she tried to move her legs out of it, but her attempts were futile and she failed to no avail, "I can't move!"

"This is bad." Kaede commented, frowning deeply at the situation that unfolds in them. "This is not what I expect to happen. Everytime we entered this forest with Eiri-shishou, there are no shadows lurking and attacking intruders like this. I expect aberrant large hounds and sort, but not _this_. This is much way too different." she grimaced when the shadow suddenly tightened it's hold in her both legs, "_Shit_."

"Sasuke, I couldn't feel chakra in these shadows." Naruto looked at him, pointing his serious and tense gaze over the shadow hovering his thighs. "This is stupidly weird. I can't break out of it. Kurama is also surprised and weirded, he also can't move and he didn't even know what's going on!"

"I couldn't see any chakra with it by my Sharingan, but I have a feeling that it was been controlled by something else different." Sarada muttered, her intelligent mind started to assess the shadow that was starting to crawl up to her torso slowly, making her wince out of alarm. "It was really raw. Raw energy. And it was like it was alive on it's own, feeding on someone's fear, _ah_—"

Sasuke's right eye twitched again uncomfortably just like what happened to him yesterday before visiting the Nakatsukasa's place. He wanted to touch it with his sole hand to stop or lessen the spasms, but slowly and rather in an agonizing way— the throbbing and twitching of his left eye increased in amount, his eye felt burning in a second. Before he could close his left eye to calm and lessen the burning; the shadows enveloped his arm in a tight grip making him hiss inwardly at the deadly hold the shadows were making. Sarada's noise of pain, Naruto's slight uncomfortable hissing and Eiri and Kaede's sound of wincing never failed to reach his ears until—

— a black weird shadow figures started to stabilize a few feet away from them. Every black figures in their line of visions and directions were slowly molding in different shapes. In an agonizing slow pace, the shadows weirdly started to form into something, from an unrecognizable shape of shadows— it then eerily molded, much perfectly resembling a figure of a person.

Naruto eyed the creepy shadow in bated breath. Familiar kind of hair spikes, a lean yet wide shoulders of a teenager, four to five inches shorter than his current height—

Eiri was stunned, looking at the shadow forming perfectly in her direction. The familiar figure of someone in her past that she held so dearly— was there, looking at her with kind, warm eyes. The Fujima had to stare intently just to make sure there was nothing playing on her eyes, but then something much more surprising appeared next, almost filling her plate in full. Disbelief and silent horror filled her features, when she saw the next shadow morphed into an achingly familiar figure of someone she just betrayed before; that she really held dear in her heart aside of her younger sister.

Kaede's determined and defiant expression faltered when the shadow who stood a few feet from her shaped into someome that she desperately yearned to save for a decade and a half. The familiar small figure of a silver-haired child giving her her brightest grin almost made her choke in tears.

Sarada was absolutely stupefied when she saw the shadow morphed into someone that she really didn't expect to appear atleast. That hilarious familiar banana pointed hairstyle was not something that she could just forget. With matching annoying yet warm grin in his lips, she almost drop her jaw out of disbelief— had she really saw him smile just like _that_? It was just way too weird! Then suddenly, another shadow appeared; morphing into someone that was almost a carbon copy of hers. _No, I'm a carbon copy of his_, she pressed in her mind. The shadow transformed slowly into someone who's really familiar to her that she couldn't help but to glance at the original one who has also the same face— but his, was the face akin to pure disbelief.

_What's going on?_ Sarada said inwardly in complete alarm. _Papa is still here, then who the hell is this?! _

Seeing Sasuke in that kind of expression alarmed Sarada in totally beyond. It was her first time seeing her father looking at something, or _someone_ with a horrified and disbelieving expression— that she couldn't help but to look where her father was staring at.

Then that was it, Sarada was now anxious and really astounded at the people materializing on her Papa's direction. A man who's a few inches shorter than him with a lean body, wearing a black high-collared shirt and a simple nin pants. It was a man with a youthful looking face that she couldn't recognize remembering of, but looking at her father made her think otherwise. They are quite identical to each other, minus the height and age; it was obvious that the man was way younger than her father. Then—

A familiar pinkette was beside the man with a height almost stopping beneath the man's jaw. Red hitai-ate on her pink locks, red sleeveless shirt with zipper, pink skirt with slits on the sides were adorning her small yet fit figure. Sarada could feel a surge of headache coming, there's no doubt that this _girl_, this _teenager_ was a younger version of her _mother_.

But why? How?

"Sasuke," the man's deep voice made Sarada feel goosebumps piercing her skin. She couldn't help but to glance at her father who's expression was really unreadable at the moment.

She really felt dreading the next thing that would happen. She's confused at the man who eerily resembles her father in a way. Sarada felt her breathing stopped the moment her father elicit a word that simply took her breath away.

"Nii-san,"

* * *

**Shurikenjutsu (****手裏剣術****)- **is a general term describing the traditional Japanese martial arts of throwing shuriken, which are small, hand-held weapons used primarily by the Samurai in feudal Japan, such as metal spikes bō shuriken, circular plates of metal known as hira shuriken, and knives (tantō).

**Shunshin/Shunshin no Jutsu (****瞬身の術****, Body Flicker Technique)-** is a high-speed movement technique, allowing a ninja to move short to long distances at an almost untraceable speed.

* * *

_**A/N: And now that's an ass cliffhangggggggger! Haha! Yes, you read it that right! Sasuke said "Nii-san"! *gasps* Oh kami, would Itachi appear in the next chapter? Hmm, what do you think? And Sakura, haha she was there too! What do you think might happen next? Feel free to leave your answers on the reviews! **__**ฅ**__**'ω'**__**ฅ**_

_**Actually, this chapter was really long (just as what I said on the last author's note). So I chose to split the whole ass long chapter into two. There would be two chapters of their small adventure in the forest, and this was the part one. The part two will be the important part though. I won't gonna spoil you but there's an important character that will appear next, so you better watch out for the next update! And hehe, it wouldn't take so long! (So don't be sad) I'm already working on it, and writing this whole Cursed Forest Arc enjoyed me that much. **_

_**Everyone curious about who Eiri was? Now that was it! Eiri was my close friend's OC, and in this story— she's an old acquaintance of Kakashi. *wink***_

_**I hope you enjoy this chapter. And please don't forget to review (for motivational purposes, lol xD)~**_

_**Constructive criticism is also open. You're free to leave suggestions and you can ask me about it too. **_

—_**SpringfieldOfCherryBlossoms **_

_**(07-21-19)**_


	7. Chapter VI

_**A/N: So yeah I am back again. (**__๑__**¯ω¯**__๑__**)**_

_**So as you can see, this chapter is really long— 15k+ words minus the author's note and other more. Thanks for those who reviewed, I really much appreciated it! *cries***_

_**Guest 1, 2 & 3, vousnemeconnaissezpas, Nejes and other more. I'm so happy that you liked the last chapter and reviewed though. Your nonstop encouragements motivated me, I swear. (╥﹏╥)**_

_**And for fanofthisfiction, I'm so ecstatic to read your review! That was unexpected, I read your stories omg- I'm so honored that you took your time to read this fic of mine. *cries* And to answer your question, Sarada was 12 years old here, Naruto and Sasuke was 32 (Boruto verse). Your question about Sarada's friends looking out for her, it will be introduced in the next chapter though. Thank you very much again for reviewing~ **__ฅ__**'ω'**__ฅ_

_**I want to thank my close friend Verona Blithewind for checking the errors and changing the other things for this chapter. Without her, this fic would be really messy with my choice of hilarious vocabulary. xD**_

_**This is the last part of the Cursed Forest arc. Andddddd I just introduced someone in the last part! So enjoy! **_

_**I do not own Naruto and the canon characters in here, but I do solely owned the plot and the other OC's (except for Eiri though, it's my close friend Verona's OC)**_

* * *

**Chapter Six**

**Fear and the Guardian from the Moon**

* * *

"Nii-san," Sasuke's stupefied expression turned blank and serious once again as he eyed the familiar figure of his dead older brother materializing in front of him.

To say that he was not taken aback by the uncanny appearance was an understatement. He swore that the moment he saw his brother made him feel... ambivalent. His mind was in conflict; that he felt his panic arising, churning his guts within him. Seeing his wife―no―the _younger version_ of his wife also confused the shit out of him.

Itachi and younger Sakura.

What the hell was happening?

He also noticed that he was not the only one who's experiencing the same fate. The familiar faces of younger version of Naruto and Kakashi, adult version of him and a smiling Boruto made him feel nauseous. What kind of pathetic excuse of a fiasco was this? Why the hell that shadows started to play with them by stealing familiar faces to rile them up?

A sound of broken sob snapped him out of his reverie, he turned, finding a crying Nakatsukasa looking at a certain silver-haired child a few feet away from her. He was a little bit confused and intrigued— was that her _younger sister_ that she was trying to reach out?

A stunned face of Eiri was gaping at the younger version of Kakashi who was moving towards her in a slow pace. If not for the shadows locking her in place, he's sure the woman would bolt out and get away from the place as much as possible. She looked so horrified and disbelieving while looking at Kakashi. It made him wonder again. What is their... connection?

The face of the original Naruto was shocked as he stared at his own younger version, while Sarada was looking at him with surprise like she just saw something _life changing_. Feeling himself stiffen uncomfortably, he totally knew why his daughter was giving him that kind of look.

Sasuke was not hiding his own family from her. But before when he was trying to redeem his self, he swore that to protect his future children someday he needed to protect them from himself first, from his tragic past. He really felt bad when he left Sakura to do everything on her own when it comes to his daughter; but what can he do? Until now, Sasuke have his own issues. Even though he's already old enough, a redeemed man at that— Sarada knowing about his old real self and the tragedies of the infamous Uchiha clan scared him. It scared him to the point that if only things were different; he might choose a simpler life. But no, his fate was to be the last of the Uchiha. There's nothing he could do, but to protect his own child from knowing everything that would might shatter her world. That's the last thing that would happen, he's sure he would not let it.

His head started to think ways what to do in their situation. His chakra were still intact, his dōjutsu were still on. He needed to think of a better plan how to free themselves on the shadows before it gets too late.

The fake Itachi took a step forward in his direction, with his eyes narrowing in threat he could only ask to get some time.

"Who are you?"

The faux was taken aback for a moment, head tilting in confusion as he looked back at him. "What are you talking about, Sasuke? It's Itachi, your older brother."

Sasuke could feel himself getting more uncomfortable and anxious when he heard a small gasp; obviously coming from Sarada. Trying to play it cool, he only glared back with his lips turning downwards.

"You are not him." he firmly stated as he tried to twist his sole arm from the shadow's firm hold, "Stop fooling around. I'm not in for these childish games―"

"Childish games? As I could remember, you always nag me to play with you when you're still a child, little brother." Itachi said in confusion, "And _I_ am Itachi."

"Do I look like a _child_ to you?" Sasuke could feel his patience waning every second, teeth gritting in complete annoyance at the fake person talking to him using his beloved brother's voice, his dead brother. How dare they use his brother's appearance against him?

Unacceptable. Unforgivable. He would not let this continue further.

Itachi looked at him with a smile, then slowly his innocent smile turning into a teasing smirk that Sasuke knew oh so well.

He knew it so well that it hurts.

"You will always be my little brother." he said, "But I almost forgot how foolish and naïve you are in nature. Say Sasuke, is that how you're going to treat your elders after for so many years? I'm sure Mother had taught you proper manners."

"_Stop_. Don't include my mother in this," he seethed, his voice spitting venom word by word. "You know nothing. You're just a replica of _his_."

"Replica?" Itachi parroted, "Replica of whom, Sasuke?"

"You—"

"Sasuke-kun."

He stiffened at the familiar voice calling his name with the familiar dearing suffix. His bewildered gaze fell on the pinkette who was clutching Itachi's shirt from behind. Itachi, noticing the gesture he just looked at her.

"Sakura-san, Sasuke seems shaken. Would you mind talking to him? He doesn't believe that we're real."

She nodded at the faux elder Uchiha as she turned at him with a kind smile, "Hello, Sasuke-kun." she said, "Long time no see. I haven't seen you for seven months. You missed me?"

_Long time no see?_ Sasuke said inwardly, getting more and more confused at the things that was happening with him.

_There's no way this is real. This is not real. This Sakura is a younger version of herself, but why did she know __**that**__? _

"Stop fooling around already." he glared at her and then to Itachi, "I know you're both fake, so stop this foolish nonsense or I'll make you."

Sakura said quite thoughtfully, "Sasuke-kun. I'm sure I told Sarada to look after you before I was gone. Why are you like this?"

"_You_," he seethed, clenching his sole hand into a tight fist. Giving her his own intimidating glare, snarling as he continued. "Stop using my wife and imitating everything that she do. You are _nothing_ like her."

"Sasuke, is that how you treat your wife? Raising your voice on an innocent woman?" Itachi interjected.

"_Shut the fuck up,_" he spat angrily.

"Sasuke-kun, stop it!" Sakura admonished him in her own Sakura-fashioned way, "You're talking to your brother! That's rude!"

_How dare this fake clone of my wife to act so similarly like her? _

His deathly glare were still directed at the two pathetic replicas. There's no way that they were real. Itachi was already long dead, and Sakura—

_"Hello, Sasuke-kun. Long-time no see. I haven't seen you for seven months. You missed me?"_

No. That couldn't be. That's impossible. There's no way that she could be Sakura, _his Sakura_. He can feel that there was something off and wrong, and there's no way that he's going to fell for it. _Never_.

"Sasuke-kun, you're so _bad._" Sakura admonished Sasuke with a light stern look, "Itachi-san, your brother is really mean. I swear he was not like this when we're together."

_Sasuke-kun? Bad?_

He was sure that even in public or in private, his wife would still kept on calling him with _Anata _rather than _Sasuke-kun. _This replica kept on calling him by his name for umpteenth times that it was starting to get into his nerves.

"Sasuke," Itachi gave him his all too familiar reprimanding gaze, obsidian eyes narrowing in disapproval. "Foolish little brother. You'll disappoint Mother."

That's it. That was the last straw. How dare this damn replica taunt him by using his mother? "Shut up. You're nothing but a fake replica of my brother and wife. I don't fall for these kind of sick games."

Itachi and Sakura's aura changed, they looked at him blankly— obviously unimpressed with his statement. And then slowly, Itachi's face changed into much maturer; his high-collared shirt was been replaced by a tattered shirt. His appearance was really beaten, blood was everywhere in his person; in his arms, eyes and mouth. It was surreal, Sasuke could feel himself getting more uncomfortable and anxious inside.

Like being splashed by a cold water, he finally realized that it was his brother's appearance in their last battle on the Uchiha hideout—

"_Foolish little brother._" Itachi disappeared right away in his vision, making him look around the place in complete alarm with his Sharingan still on place. Sakura was still there, looking at him blankly, somberly, that it was almost creepy for his part. Still keeping on guard, he chose to ignore her for a moment as he tried to find where Itachi went.

"_Foolish_," he reappeared in front of him, his face twisted maniacally like a psychopath killer wants to taunt his next victim. Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise as he stared at the unfamiliar look of his brother who's very close to his face. His eyes turned red, exposing his own Mangekyō Sharingan eyes to Sasuke. Blood began to seep slowly through the corners of his eyes, then it rolled across his pallid cheeks "_Foolish little brother. Very foolish._"

"You're not real… _Enough__!_"

Itachi's bloodied hand suddenly reached out to his neck obviously holding him on a choke— a reminiscent move that his brother did on him when he attacked Itachi with a Chidori on Naruto's apartment building when he was still a genin.

"_Sasuke_," he called out, grabbing his neck a bit roughly (just like what he did when he was a genin), "_Foolish, foolish Sasuke._" he pulled his neck, making his face inched a lot more closely to Itachi's. "_You are weak._"

Sasuke gritted his teeth out of anger. He doesn't want to hear it again. He doesn't want to—

"_You are weak._" he taunted, giving Sasuke his own sardonic look. "_Why are you weak? Because you lack __**hate**__._"

_This is just a memory. This is not real. _Sasuke said inwardly, almost repeating it like a mantra. _Itachi's dead. _

"_You're afraid?_" Itachi tightened his hold on his neck, making Sasuke wince when he felt his windpipe squeezing. "_It is foolish to be afraid of what is still to be seen and known._"

_**There is no value in killing the likes of you. My foolish brother... If you wish to kill me... curse me! Hate me! And live a long and unsightly life... Run away... run away... and cling to your pitiful life. And then someday, when you have the same eyes as I do, come before me. **_

_No. _

_**Hate me, detest me, curse me, and survive in an unsightly way. Run, run and cling to your pathetic life.**_

_No. Stop. _

_**Survive in an unsightly way. **_

_Stop.._

_**Run, run away. **_

_Stop it! _

_**Cling to your pitiful life.**_

_I said stop it! _

_**Sasuke.**_

"... Sasuke-kun," Sakura's pitiful voice called out to him. Sasuke's handsome face was filled with pure horror as he saw the familiar figure of the pinkette holding a poison-coated kunai in her hands. But actually, that's not what really horrified the Uchiha on the pinkette.

It was the gaping bloodied hole where her heart lies. Slowly, the kunai fell from her fingertips— she touched the gaping hole of her wound dirtying her fingers with her fresh red blood. She started to cough in front of him with blood—_more blood—_much to Sasuke's horror. His disbelieving and terrified eyes looked over the wound, by its size and familiar position, no doubt it was a wound that his Chidori could do.

It terrified him. He used that attack on her before, not just once but he did it twice. _On the same area. _

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura's dull emerald eyes pierced him on the spot hauntingly with her blood already pooling on her feet. "You finally did _it_..." she said pitifully between labored breaths and choking blood.

"_What did you do, Sasuke? Why kill the last person who genuinely loved you? Who only wants to __**save**__ you?_" Itachi's taunting voice started to resurface once again,"_You will lose everything special once again. It's because you're weak, Sasuke. __**You lack hatred**__._"

"Papa!"

He heard his daughter calling out for him, but the scenario that was unfolding in front of him really distracted him. It was kind of _too much_ to handle. He felt his head going to burst. His left eye hurting and burning again, pulsating like the ragged beat of his heart.

"You finally did it." Sakura repeated once again as she reached her bloodied hand to his cheek, making him flinch the moment it touched him. "_You finally did it_."

"S-Saku—"

"You're so _horrible_. You're so _bad_ as a father. You're so _awful_ as a man. _I hate you._"

That really blew him off. _Very hard_. And that hurts, fake Sakura or not— hearing her voice telling him spiteful words really pierced his soul.

"Papa, don't listen!" Sarada screamed out again desperately when he stood motionless on Itachi's hold. "It's not real! It's an illusion! Mama would never ever say that! Papa!"

_**You're so horrible. **_

_**You're so bad as a father. **_

_**You're so awful as a man. **_

_**I hate you.**_

Suddenly, Itachi's firm hold on him vanished altogether with his presence— replacing it with Sakura's the moment he vanished.

"You finally _killed_ me this time. So, are you now _happy_?" Sakura said tauntingly, closing the gap between their faces that Sasuke swore he could smell the rusty smell of her blood with their very close distance. "_Are you now happy, Sasuke-kun?_"

The pinkette moved her face, her wet bloodied lips found the warm flesh of his earlobe and then she whispered.

"Let your daughter see you kill her beloved mother with your own past twisted desires."

_"It was really raw. Raw energy. And it was like it was alive on its own, feeding on someone's fear—"_

Something was nagging his mind, he felt like someone was calling him nonstop. But who is it?

_"...it was alive on its own, feeding on someone's fear—"_

_What? _Sasuke asked to no one in particular, totally forgetting the forest, Itachi, Sakura and the reality. _Alive..?_

_"Feeding on someone's fear "_

Feeding on someone's fear?

_Someone's fear. _

_Fear. _

_**Fear**__._

"...don't believe... you see! Get... hold... yourself... up!"

... Sarada?

"...you... listen!"

* * *

Naruto was stuck on his place, gaping at the familiar figure who stood a few feet away from him. Seeing those achingly familiar figure of his made him feel nauseous and anxious. While flashing a look at his other companions, he found that they were facing different people except for him. He could face anyone else in particular, but why the hell he was facing his _old self_? What's the reason? It doesn't mean anything, wasn't it?

"We saw each other again." his younger self said to him calmly, looking at him with those creepy— creepy calm looking gaze that it honestly reminds him of those possessed people on horror movies that he used to watch before.

"Who are you?" Naruto narrowed his eyes towards his own replica who only kept on staring at him unnervingly.

"I'm you remember?" the amused tone of his replica irked him, not only his look was purely disconcerting but also his tone too. It was so damn out of character. "You couldn't just get rid of me y'know. I'm always part of you."

"Well... _you _are," Naruto said kind of harsh, but he didn't mind it at least. He was beyond agitated, and he being in an agitated state doesn't feel him too good. It panicked the shit out of him really bad. He really hate being unnerved and uncertain. "So what now? Are you going to lash out on me just like the last time?"

"No. I'm only here to talk though," his replica shook his head, still looking at him so calmly. "Say Naruto, suppressing me from coming out of you will do no good."

Naruto narrowed his eyes even more at him. A displeased frown plastered on his face, "_Suppressing_ you?" disbelief filled his tone as he mentioned this, "I thought _you're_ me and _you're_ always a part of me. How the hell _I_ was suppressing you?"

His replica shook his head, frowning at him in complete disapproval like he was the stupidest person in the world. _The audacity of him to give me that __**look**__ of all people—_

"Acting so all bright and overly optimistic. Until now, you're still fake as ever, Naruto."

That stopped Naruto from scowling even more in his position as he froze momentarily at his words. Where the hell did that came from? He knew his inner self was not like him in that _matter— _he knew he was more serious and darker just like the Uchiha himself, but hearing his other self spat about him being _fake_ really blew him off.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked his replica quite demandingly. He's sure his agitated state has getting worse, absolutely dreading the next thing that would come next.

"Stop playing you don't know _everything_." the replica gritted his teeth with his hands tightly balled into fists. "You had always knew how hopeless of a fool you are. You kept on parading yourself to people as a good natured hero with full of smiles, positivity and warmth— when in all honesty, you reek of disgusting negativity that you well hid for so long. Stop trying too hard."

Disbelief slapped him really too hard, like a huge tidal wave hitting over a sturdy concrete wall. The disbelief that he was feeling was clearly written on his face, feeling himself getting lost in a second— as he tried to gather his thoughts at bay. Naruto had always been so intimidated of his real, deep persona, he knew that single pathetic fact about his self. But what's wrong about pretending to be fine from time to time without worrying everybody else in the process? He sure did his best to suppress those self-destructive thoughts to his own because he knew how bad the amount of it could possibly affect the other people. He was known as being the overall optimistic ninja— he did everything, his very best to keep that good pleasing image, intact to his self— _naturally_. Then what the hell was wrong with that? He wanted to change, not to succumb and unleash his stupid negativities on people that he cherished.

"Why wouldn't you succumb to your real self? Why always pretend? Why wouldn't you embrace the _true_ you? We both know here that you're faking everything that you show to others. Giving them this impression of you being good and free from darkness. There's no such thing, Naruto. You're just _faking_ yourself."

"No, I don't." Naruto finally spoke after a few moments of silence, "Hiding your weakness was not a sign of being fake."

"_Yes, _it is."

"No, it is _not_."

"Stop being a fool!"

"_No_._**You**__ stop._"

His replica froze, his eyes widened dramatically in dejection and then a few moments later, the expression turned into anger. The replica's eye flashed red, body shaking in complete madness.

"Why?" he forced the word, quite anguished by the second time rejection of his other counterpart. "Why do you always forcing yourself to be good?!"

Naruto looked at his replica with a downcast look, with his lips turned into a thin line. "...I don't. Giving kindness was not something that needs to be faked of. I was been treated very badly since I was a child, yes," cerulean eyes met the other, "but it doesn't mean I have to give them the same treatment what they did to me. I had already accepted that long ago, other me. You know _that_."

"I didn't hid my weakness just because I'm ashamed or afraid for the people to see it. But I hid it for a different purpose, to protect them and not to worry them with my own lackadaisical shit."

"Heh, that's it. That was it." the replica chuckled darkly, "That '_selfless'_ attitude was just too _disgusting_." Naruto didn't say anything about this who only stared at him with this sad, _sad look_ and it unnerved the replica shitless, angering him even more. He doesn't understand his other part at all, he doesn't understand why he always reject him and suppressing him most of the time. _He doesn't understand it at all. _

What was so special about those people anyways? Why they were more special than him? Why would Naruto choose them over him?

But he knew one thing though. He knew one thing that would obviously struck him in the core. With pulling a nasty smirk on, he faced Naruto with disdain.

He was not kind. He was born from Naruto's sorrow. He was full of darkness, lacking light. Caliginous. Corrupted. And a soul full of _doom_.

"Have you ever know that you were a useless father?"

_Useless father. _

Naruto froze, the harsh statement had hit him full force like he was been punched straight on the gut— really damn hard that he swore he could barely breathe. With his eyes widening in complete shock as he processed this inside his mind, he turned his face away slowly; a grim look was plastered all over his face. Just as what the replica expected, he struck a sensitive spot in Naruto which made him grin maniacally.

"What's the feeling that your child doesn't like you?" he taunted Naruto who only flinched uncomfortably in his position. "What's the feeling that he grown up without your proper guidance?

"He grew up fine," Naruto commented with his eyes down, "He's doing well. Even with my help or not, I know he will grow someday to be a good fine man."

His replica arched a fine eyebrow at this, "Are you not ashamed that you were only giving your wife such a burden? That's very thoughtful of you, Naruto. I thought you were _so kind_." his tone was playful and mocking, but the blonde Jinchūriki ignored it with a simple grunt.

He knew he was being unfair with Hinata, but he couldn't trust his self on handling Boruto. Boruto was nothing like him and that scared him. He made mistakes, made his son really sad and disappointed most of the time. He thought that handing him to his wife was the best idea, and under Sasuke's tutelage as well.

Because he couldn't trust himself. Boruto couldn't understand him as for now, he only needs to wait for the right time. For him to be _enlightened_.

"Stop this already." If only Naruto could move, he wouldn't hesitate to pull his other self into a comforting embrace just like what he did the last time. He knew his other counterpart succumbed to loneliness and isolation that inside him; he always shut himself out. Because of Naruto's awful childhood of isolation, his negative counterpart was been created and was feeding out through his large mass of sadness and sorrows.

If Naruto would be honest, it's not like he was rejecting his whole existence inside him. Just because he was suppressing his doubts, sorrows, sadness and insecurities doesn't mean he hated his other self. On the contrary, he was beyond thankful for his presence. He really do.

"I'm not going to force you to let go of everything, but do remember that I acknowledged your existence. Because you're me, and I am you." he finally said with a smile, exhaustion were starting to creep in his features. Even in his tone, the exhaustion was existent. "And also, I know I'm awful and I tend to make errors and mistakes— but that's what makes it better, isn't it? We live to commit mistakes and learn from it. Life is not always about colorful rainbows and indulging in cloud nine. And _I_ accept that."

The replica was speechless while looking at him with an unreadable look. His angered expression dissipated as he stood there motionless a few feet away from him.

"You're unbelievable." the replica said softly, his once tensed stature finally softened with his demonic red eyes reverted to a familiar shade of clear blue sky. "I'm still not done with you."

Naruto stared at his replica as he let out a soft chuckle, "Well, bring it on—"

* * *

"Yo,"

Chills started to crawl up to her spine as she heard that oh so familiar voice of her ex-acquaintance,

Hatake Kakashi.

To say that she was not panicking on the inside was complete bullshit, and she swore that if he thought of taking a step forward towards her— either she'll throw a fit in order to get out of the shitty place or she'll just rip her arms and legs off to escape. But she knew both plans were impossible and rather imaginative twisted ideas of hers.

"'Tis been a long time."

It has been a _long_ damn time indeed. Fifteen years was really quite long, and no doubt that many things had happened within those sad fifteen years. Seeing that familiar figure of someone she just knew from before made her nervous— _anxious_ even. Eiri couldn't comprehend why the hell Kakashi was there in front of her, greeting her like they were still good friends. She was dreading about the thought of them meeting somewhere soon, because no doubt he might demand a proper reason from her onto why she left without no particular reason, but with only a small piece of damn paper telling that she was sorry and no need to go after her.

Eiri felt sick indeed, she could feel her head spinning— vertigo was calling, her guts churning uncomfortably. She just wanted to get out of here really quick. Seeing Kakashi in there looking at her expectantly made her really feel guilty and sick that she wanted to puke.

"It's...been a long time, indeed." she managed to say after a few moments of silence between them. "Why are you here?"

Kakashi looked at her with his all-knowing look, his lone eye crinkling, smiling under his mask. "I'm about to ask you the same thing. Why are you here?"

"I—" her voice got caught in her throat, feeling embarrassed at being find to be a stammering mess, "It's complicated. Just helping people to find their important people."

"Ah," Kakashi nodded once, looking at her again with his really familiar gaze and it really made her uncomfortable because damn it, she don't deserve that soft kind of look coming from him. Not really at all. "I see. You're still the same as before then, Fujima."

_Fujima_? It's been a while that she heard him calling her that. It somehow overwhelmed her, made her nervous too. But there was something about it that feels so off.

In her memory, Kakashi would call her in her last name to trigger her. As a matter of fact, it's her pet peeve. It was sure a giveaway of her long deceased clan. She refused to face her past, causing her to reject her clan.

Until now, her past haunts her, and that made her feel more agitated. She thought that leaving Konoha her once beloved home would be a best choice she made...

But it was not.

She was alone, far from her comfort zone, bringing nothing but her skills and her knowledge. It was agonizing for her to face her fears, her past. Agonizing to leave her dearest friends and those who took care of her.

Agonizing to leave him with just a note of saying "I'm sorry".

_Pathetic move Eiri you just won an award of recklessness and cowardice._

She couldn't even imagine facing him, let alone meeting him face to face. And now he's in front of her.

**In-fucking-front of her.**

She was not ready. He's talking to her like it was just years ago, a friendly chat.

And man she really need a damn week of sleep.

Despite of these thoughts that bombarded her, there was something really off about this Kakashi. Fujima? She was sure that Kakashi understood her when she told him about—

_"Your clan really messed you up, isn't it, Fujima?"_

_"Shut up, Hatake. I told you I don't want to hear about my goddamned forsaken clan, let alone call me by—"_

_"Eiri."_

_Surprised amethyst eyes met the soft understanding lone eye of the person who just saved her a long time ago._

_"Eiri is a beautiful name. Much better than your surname by the way."_

And after that, Kakashi no longer called her by her surname. First name basis, and that's when they finally established a good civilized friendship between them. Because Kakashi understood her. Understood her struggles with her past, clan and to herself.

But why the hell he just called her by her _surname_? He knew she just hated that, not unless—

Realization dawned on her. Her once nervous and fidgeting-self vanished the moment she gave an intimidating glare at the figure in her line of vision.

"I knew that dork so well, that's when you let a _miniscule_ error to give you away." she spoke, shaking her head as she scoffed.

_Of course._

"So tell me, who the hell are you?" she demanded.

This Kakashi, in front her, only arched a fine eyebrow at her trying to feign ignorance— but Eiri was not the one to be fooled. Until a few moments of staring contest between them, that's when he finally smirked and tilted his head on the other side in complete nonchalance.

"Maa, maa. Is that how you would ask someone that you just _wronged_?"

She frowned, frozen on her spot, as she felt goosebumps, decoding the statement inside her mind. **What the hell**—

"What?" he eyed her with also a smug tone lacing his cool manly voice, "Got your tongue out in a twist, _Fujima_?"

"You..." Eiri glared at him, trying to free her arms and legs out of the stupid firm hold of those annoying shadows. "Just who the fuck are you? You're not Kakashi, I **know** it. _Just who are you_?"

"What are you talking about? I'm Kakashi. Fifteen years were not that long. I'm sure you didn't forget about me, or I'll be so hurt, _Eiri_."

She almost got choked with her stupid saliva when she was about to give him her own retort, but hearing his last statement really blew her up. Disbelief was already plastered all over her shocked yet confused face.

"You're not him." she reminded herself once again.

"Is that how you're going to treat me after all these years?"

"Stop."

"Does it made you happy?"

"No, no, no—"

"Aren't you happy? Satisfied that you left?"

"Stop this, I don't—"

"Running away... doesn't that make you a shameless coward?"

"Just fucking _stop_!" she screamed desperately, trying to stop his taunting voice in her ears. If only she could move, maybe she can cover her ears with her hands or just run away from him, from the forest, from the place.

She was shaking awfully, beads of sweat was there and labored breaths was now existent on her whole body. A sign of another panic attack, she could barely breathe, she feel so hot like someone was squeezing her whole existence, cutting her airways to prevent her from breathing normally. She couldn't control herself anymore, she can't breathe.

_"I...I can see them. They're...glowing. Glowing like I couldn't understand how people cannot see them... I'm... I'm scared, Aunt... I don't know what to do... It haunt me in my dreams... I see how they die... How they were killed... W-what is __**this**__?!" a crying six year old Eiri was clutching on her aunt's arm desperately; who's only looking at her with pity and sadness. _

_"Tell me, Aunt! Please make them stop!" her desperate cries filled the silence. _

_._

_._

_._

_"Nii-chan, what are you doing...?" said a younger Eiri with her own bright eyes looking up at her dear older brother with befuddlement. Her brother was eyeing her with a weird expression, holding a sharp dagger in his hand. _

_"Hatori-niichan? Why are you holding that pointy thing..?" she asked nervously, moving backwards as her tiny figure hit the solid shōji doors behind her. _

_"You should die, Eiri."_

No—

_"You should stay out of this place!"_

_"B-but why I can't be with you?"_

_"Listen young child," a tired and emotionally drained voice of an elder woman grasped her tiny shoulders in a firm grip. "You need to get out of here, okay? Don't you ever go back in here and keep on moving. Protect yourself. Live on, you hear me?"_

_"B-but—"_

_"Silence!" the elder cut her off kind of harshly, making her eyes began to tear up. "Just just do it, please, Eiri. You need to. Get out of here." she gave her a tight hug and then she gave the crying child a blindfold. _

_"Take care alright? Don't you ever come back here."_

_"I.. I.." _

_"Move. Now!"_

.

.

.

_"Weirdo." said by an academy child, poking a cowering young Eiri at the corner of the room, "Why do you always stay at the corner, huh? You're creeping the hell out of us!"_

_"She is. Look at those hilarious blindfold! Is she blind or something? Check that out!" _

_"N-no, stop it..." she cowered back, covering her face with her both arms to kept her blindfold on. _

.

.

.

_"Weirdo!"_

_"Blindfold freak!"_

_"She's creepy! Look at those disgusting dirty blindfold!"_

_"Haha! Green haired freak with a dirty blindfold! I'll bet no one will like an outsider like you!"_

.

.

.

_"You're lonely."_

_Surprise filled her impassive face as she looked at the mask-wearing adolescent who stood on her right. _

_She didn't say anything as she turned her gaze back on the river._

_She really was __**lonely**__. _

.

.

.

_"A blindfold? So she's handicapped?"_

_"Are you stupid? Do you think you can be useful to this world being blind?"_

_"No one would want something like you as a kunoichi. A blind kunoichi? That's unheard of."_

_._

_._

_._

_Everything goes grey, dull of colors... Lifeless. What caught her eyes are a flash of gold that outlined...the people?_

_The traces of these people seems prominent... They are the subject of this reminiscence... _

_"What is going—"_

_Her mumbling was cut short as the man holding a knife stabbed his prey as it begs for her life. The blood oozed as it splattered, hitting the artery. The blood somehow sprayed against Eiri as she jumped in reality. _

_Everyone was startled as her face were terrifyingly surprised. "I...I saw it! She...she was killed! She was... She was chased...and the man...he...killed her!"_

.

.

.

_"Do you want to be more useful?" he asked her with a grin, "What about you will let me have your eyes? That's a prized possession; dangerous yet pretty. What about you let me have it?"_

.

.

.

Tons of flashbacks played in her vision, making her stunned into silence. The shaking was still there along with her labored breaths and excessive perspiration. Eiri was really shaken, like she was been struck by a lightning. That was the old memories that she desperately locked on the confinements of her mind. She doesn't want to see it, she doesn't want to be reminded again. She doesn't want it—

"Eiri-neechan."

Eiri's eyes found the little figure of her five year old younger sister near the fake Kakashi. She was clutching tulips on her chest, her violet kimono was snuggly fit on her small stature.

"Kaori...?" she said breathlessly with her tears already cascading on her pale cheeks. Her younger sister was here. _She was here_—

"Wake up, onee-chan." her childish voice reached out to her, the tulips on her hands started to wither slowly. "Time's up."

_What? _

And then a blinding light just hit her eyes.

* * *

"Mirai..?" Kaede called out, tears streaming down her cheeks as she tried to reach her arm out. "...Is that you, Mirai?"

A child in her eight years turned at her in wonderment. White snowy locks stopped over her shoulders with her childish-expressive bright violet eyes were peering at her in recognition. "Onee!"

"Oh kami..." she cried even more as she saw the smiling child calling out to her, "Mirai, it's you! Come to me, little sister. Come _here—"_

"You shouldn't have come here," Mirai looked at her, confusing Kaede with her words.

"What... are you talking about?" she asked breathlessly, looking at her younger sister with a surprised expression. "You should know that I'm coming for you! Older sister is here, I'm getting you home now!"

Mirai shook her head slowly, giving Kaede her sad look. "No, onee-chan. You can't."

"What do you mean '_I can't_'?!" she asked quite desperately, trying to free herself out of the shadows. "I'll get you out of here, Mirai. I've waited enough for so long to get you out of here, and now that you're here—"

"Onee-chan," Mirai cuts her off, looking at her impassively which it was so unlike of her. "I'm not going back. I'll be staying here."

Horror filled Kaede's features. Her face was really aghast with her tears kept on streaming down her cheeks like a small dam. Hearing her voice saying that just broke her heart into many pieces. And only she could ask was— _why_?

_Why? _

"Why?" she asked Mirai with an exhausted look.

"You'll see." Mirai smiled softly, turning around from her as she started to walk away.

Feeling herself getting panic at the look of her sister walking away from her. She started to thrash out in her position, trying to get out of the shadows in a desperate manner.

"No! M-Mirai, come back here! Where are you going?! Don't—" tears flooded her vision, choking with her saliva in the process. She shook pitifully in her position, feeling so hurt once again. "No. Please, Mirai. Don't leave me again—"

"Bye bye~" she said for the last time, waving her small hand at her as her figure started to get further and further. "I love you, onee-chan... till next time."

_No no no no—_

_Just no! _

"No! Miiiiiraaaaai!" she screamed desperately and agonizingly.

She disappeared on her line of vision along with the blinding light.

* * *

Itachi.

That man was her Papa's brother. She couldn't help herself to gasp out of astonishment when she found about it. She didn't know it, she didn't heard it from her Mama, and most of all it was her first time seeing him what he looks like. Was he alive? Itachi... If he was her Papa's brother, then that means he was her _uncle_. A real uncle who shared the same blood as hers, not like Naruto, Kakashi and her Mama's other friends.

But where was he now?

As she cannot handle the familiar emotions that was starting to resurface on her. She spotted the familiar face of her teammate.

"What the hell, Boruto?" Sarada eyed the familiar figure of her teammate— who only kept on smiling at her which it was really weird and quite unnerving.

"Hey, Sarada." greeted Boruto's replica, his smile were still intact on his face as he waved an arm at her.

She knew that this Boruto was not real. She have known Boruto for years already and he didn't smile like that because he always thought that he would look really stupid and silly. Which she agreed at the notion because he would really look stupid with it. Even though it looks okay to see him smile boyishly— seeing him like that made her really uncomfortable.

And she doesn't know why. Why seeing Boruto smile just like that made her really uncomfortable anyways? What's the reason?

"You listen here," she started, looking at Boruto warily. The said guy perked up with this, meeting Sarada's eyes with curiosity. "I know you're _not_ real, as well with my father there beside you too." she said, eyeing her father's replica who's only staring back at her with those blank eyes. _Now that was just too creepy._

"Well, we're not going to lie. We're actually not real." the Boruto replica shrugged momentarily, as if he doesn't care at the idea at all.

"So what's up with all of these by the way? We're on a genjutsu, aren't we?" she demanded right away, looking at them seriously.

"Clever as ever." the replica of her blonde haired teammate quipped with a boyish grin, "Yep. You are in a genjutsu though. A thick genjutsu at that."

Sarada's expression have soured the moment she heard that. Genjutsu? So she was correct afterall?

"Why am I the only one who seems normal in here? They haven't noticed it was a genjutsu yet?" the younger Uchiha asked.

"Unfortunately, they were not similar to you in terms of that. You can see through well against genjutsu, you have a natural affinity on it." Boruto answered her truthfully,

Well, she didn't expect that at all. She's quick to perceive what's real and what an illusion is. But to have a natural talent with it? Well, that's quite surprising. She knew her mother has a natural talent of perceiving genjutsu in one look. Maybe she have inherited that part of her skill?

She remembered her Aunt Ino telling her stories about their childhood and such. Her Aunt had mentioned that her Mama was the brightest female pupil in their class and her intelligence was something to be reckoned with. Even though with a civilian background, her Mama was not really dumb nor stupid. As Aunt Ino would quote it, her Mama was a: _"Smart as a whip of a prude." _And she remembered about the lines of: _"Believe me, there was a time she outflanked your father in tests but Sasuke-kun was too aloof of a lone wolf to mind it."_

"What do you mean '_I can't_'?!" a desperate voice caught Sarada's attention, which it was Kaede who's reaching out on a white haired child who stood a few feet away from her.

Sarada, seeing the woman wail desperately for her younger sister broke her heart. And the worst part was: it was only pure genjutsu. She knew how desperate Kaede was on saving her missing sister, but she just thought that it was too harsh to make her believe that it was her real sister even though it was only an apparition.

Craning her head towards the others, she saw a disheveled Eiri who's already drenched with her own sweat, she was looking alarmed at the figure of a younger Uncle Kakashi and a young child who resembled her a bit in terms of looks. The Nanadaime was calmly conversing with a younger version of his self. And her father, who's very tensed while conversing with a man that he was calling as Itachi and a younger version of her mother.

"So what now? Are you going to mess with my mind too just like what you _did_ with them?" she gritted her teeth, glaring at the replicas in front of her. She couldn't bear looking at her companions struggling with their own.

"They were dealing with their own fears." Boruto said making Sarada to frown at this, "You cannot meddle with their own trials, Sarada."

"_I cannot meddle with their own trials_?! Then why the hell am I being at ease here instead of facing a _ruthless trial_ just like them?!" she retorted shriekingly. This is just too stupid. **Too, too stupid.**

"Your fear was nothing compared to theirs." Boruto said patiently as if he hadn't heard her shriek out of madness. "Your fear for me has no particular grave reason. Same as goes with your father also."

"What do you mean?"

"You feared Uzumaki Boruto because you cared for him really dearly, and you were confused with your own feelings and thoughts. And as for Uchiha Sasuke," he paused for a moment, his brighter blue eyes glanced over the real Sasuke. "You feared him because you loved him just like how you loved your mother. You're afraid that your care and love wouldn't reach him, that's all."

She was left speechless at the revelation. Sarada was at loss of words, looking at the replicas of Boruto and her Papa in surprise. Now it finally makes sense for her. That was the reason why she didn't feel threatened with the two replicas after all.

"You need to help him." the familiar voice of Sasuke snapped her out of her thoughts. The replica of her father just looked at her, and then he shifted his gaze on her original father's position. "The genjutsu is getting out of hand."

Sarada followed his line of vision and that's where she found the mortified expression of her Papa being locked on a firm hold on his neck by his no other than _brother_.

"What the—" Alarm bells started to rang in her mind, obviously alerting her of something bad to happen. With her eyes widening in horror, "W-what's happening?! He's attacking Papa—"

"Calm down!" Boruto's replica softly admonished, "Call him out. We can't do anything with the shadows locking you in place."

"What do you want me to—?"

"You need to reach him through _words_." Sasuke's replica said and continued, "Your father's mind conscious might collapse at any moment now, and there's a possibility that he'll fall into insanity. You need to call him out quickly."

"Yeah! It's not too late yet, Sarada! Call him out!"

"Papa!" she called out desperately, trying to reach out for her father through the use of words just like what the replica instructed her to do.

"You're so horrible. You're so bad as a father. You're so awful as a man. I hate you."

Obsidian eyes widening in pure shock. She couldn't believe her mother would say something anything like that. She knew her mother like the back of her hand. Even though her father was not there for them for so many years— the loyalty, fidelity and the adoration were still there whenever she mentioned about her father.

Whatever her father's fear for her mother had really pierced her heart. Who would have thought that her stoic and powerful of a father has a worst kind of fear in his heart?

"Papa, don't listen! It's not real! It's an illusion! Mama would never ever say that! Papa!"

It was futile as her father was still standing in there, really motionless. He was staring at his brother until—

—the familiar figure of her mother appeared as the figure of the man vanished in sight. The younger version of her mother; was there, hovering over her father completely drenched, with blood oozing out of her chest.

_No no no— it couldn't be! _

Sarada began to struggle, trying to free herself from the annoying shadows locking her. Tears began to water in her eyes, choking herself when she saw Sasuke getting terrified at Sakura's bloodied figure.

Papa's _scared_. No doubt about it. It was the first time he saw his father in that kind of expression. The raw fear was there, almost stunned, terrified and speechless. His all-knowing blankness and cool demeanor had really vanished, and was been replaced with an unadulterated horror.

"Damn it!" Sarada tried to free herself from the infuriating shadows locking her but still useless.

_This is really bad_, she mused to herself in complete panic. The feeling of helplessness was there and she couldn't help the tears brimming up her eyes. _I'm too weak, goddamn it!_

"Don't believe anything you see! Get a hold of yourself, Papa! Wake up!" she tried again, feeling her throat getting hurt as she screamed her voice out again and again.

"This is just an illusion! You need to break out of it, Papa! Listen to me—!"

Sarada's eyes widen as she saw a blur of black in her line of vision— _hazy even_, who just stood next to her father and Boruto's replica immaculately.

_Was that..?_

* * *

_An illusion feeding on someone's fear._

"This is just an illusion! You need to break out of it, Papa! Listen to me—!"

_A genjutsu._

A sound of an ear-piercing shattering glass filled the mystified forest when a violet mass of barrier that resembles a monstrous ribcage enclosed the five shinobis securely. The shadows in their body vanished along with the fake replicas that were mocking them— making them fell to their knees except for Sasuke and Naruto. Eiri was aghast and shaken, as if she cannot believe what just happened. Kaede was pretty messed up with her cheeks fully wet with tears. Naruto was quite shocked, stunned as he stared off to place, obviously staring where his fake replica stood a few moments ago, or rather an hour. He was sure he was talking with him a moment ago, but then he just suddenly disappeared. Because he was sure that was long enough, it felt like an hour for him. Even though it was only a replica, it was really a great stress to talk with his inner negative self (just like what happened when he went to _Shimagame_ and then he faced his dark counterpart).

"...what happened..?" Naruto spoke raspily, his throat really felt dry all of a sudden that he couldn't find his voice. _Damn, that hurts. I feel so sore all over the places. _

"Genjutsu." Sasuke answered, extending his elbow and flexing it. His arm felt numb at the moment, "I haven't seen it coming. It was too strong,"

"Genjutsu?" the blonde Jinchūriki parroted in disbelief, eyeing Sasuke like he was joking at him awfully. "Hey, I thought no can _deceive_ you with that eyes of yours?"

"Sarada's Sharingan hardly saw the movement just like me." he looked back to Naruto and gazed at his partial Susanoo enclosing them in security, "I had a feeling earlier that there was something off, but I bet all of us had already fell through it the moment we entered this forest."

"I haven't noticed anything. If I do, Kurama would immediately warn me about it." Naruto muttered under his breath, really displeased to fell something like that kind of counterfeit genjutsu. Ever since he fought against Madara, he absolutely despised being thrown off in an illusion. The worst part was he was not resistant to genjutsu like his old teammates though.

Turning his blonde head over to check his other companions, he spotted Eiri first who shakily ran her fingers on her damp messy locks as she tried to regulate her breathing back. Kaede was sobbing silently, clutching her hands over her chest in pure agony. Naruto could only look at them with understanding, he didn't say anything further— he wanted to give them their own space to calm their selves for a moment.

A blur of black caught his vision, it was really quick that he have to incline his head to turn to the other way. Seeing what's the blur was, he saw Sarada clutching over Sasuke's cloak— her face buried in his chest while sobbing. Naruto was surprised at the display but he didn't say anything, only observing them with his curious cerulean eyes.

His dark haired bestfriend was also surprised just like him; but in an Uchiha-way fashion, he was quick to compose himself of course (much to Naruto's amusement).

Sasuke eyed the dark mop of head of his only daughter who was shaking uncontrollably in his chest. He knew she was crying, clutching his cloak really hard like she was clinging on him for dear life. His mismatched eyes soften at the sight as a feeling of déjà vu hit him— reminding him of _someone_ who used to cling on him like this in his youth.

_"... Sasuke-kun!" _

As he looked at his sobbing daughter, he just felt that familiar twist in his heart. Sarada was just too _Sakura _in her own way that everytime he looked at Sarada— he would instantly thought of his wife. The younger version of his wife who clung onto him when she's nervous, scared, excited and worried.

Just like now. Sarada was clinging on him because she was _worried, _crying her hearts out because she thought he was in danger. With an awkward move as he raised his arm, his sole hand found the back of Sarada's head— giving it a soft comforting caress as he pulled her head more in his chest to cry on.

It's the only thing that he could do for his daughter. He's not like Sakura who's really expert at comforting people, but he's sure that he's capable of giving little comfort with small meaningful gestures— simply the Uchiha Sasuke way.

"...Was that..." her daughter croaked, raising her tear stained face to look at him.

_... Your brother? _

The unfinished statement died in her throat, but Sasuke knew what she was trying to ask. It was clear and it's not like he could hide it from her forever afterall.

"Aa," he replied curtly.

Sarada bit her lower lip, her grip on his cloak tighten in a fraction. "Then w-where...?"

Sasuke found himself recoiling for a second, but then he shook his head; meeting Sarada's teary eyes with his own mismatched ones.

"Gone," Sarada's eyes widen at this but he continued, "He's already gone. For so long."

"I...see."

"If he's still alive," he paused, features getting softer as he thought about his long dead brother. "I'm sure he would adore you instantly." _Just like how he used to adore me before. _

"You think so? And Mama..?"

"Of course," Sasuke's lips quirked a little bit, as if amused at her uncertainty. "Itachi's a great man. A pacifist, loyal and really kind at heart." his daughter perked up at this, looking so interested and fascinated.

_He would love you both._

"Itachi was a kind man," Naruto commented with a smile, "Believe me, Sarada. I could also see Itachi in you. I have always thought that he would be much of a great leader if things were different."

Feeling better now, she only nodded with a teary smile; wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand, eyeing the place where she last saw Sasuke and Boruto's replica—

—and the ghost-liked figure of Uchiha Itachi, donning an encouraging smile at her and mouthing a "_Keep on going, little niece. You can do it. Believe in your own strength._"

* * *

Naruto couldn't help smiling at the miniscule display of affection of his best friend to his only daughter. Sasuke was not really the touchy-feel-ly or the lovey-dovey type. But his dark haired friend has his own way how to show it to his important people such as his daughter and to his wife. At first, he had always thought that Sasuke was too of an apathetic cold bastard to be capable in terms of showing affection to others; but that opinion automatically shattered when he saw him gradually returning the pinkette's affection by showing his own in his own way. He struggled with words, yes, but with through actions— Naruto could say that he somewhat excel on that particular department.

_**Naruto.**_

"Huh, eh who—" Naruto blinked out of astonishment, cutting him out of his own reverie. Finally registering the familiar voice inside his head, he composed himself. "Kurama?"

_**Yeah kid. It is me. Who else?**_

While simply ignoring the sarcasm, Naruto asked. _What took you so long? _

_**Got caught in the genjutsu too. **_A grouchy voice of Kurama rang in his head. _**What a pain in the ass. That stupid Uchiha had really scarred me for eternity. Ho**__**w I absolutely despised genjutsu.**_

_Well, nobody likes to be caught in a genjutsu, by the way. _Naruto said with a sigh. _So Kurama, have you find something? _

_**The unearthly chakra, it's already close. It was compelling us to move forward.**_

_How close is it? _

_**A few more walk deeper down the forest. Someone was calling me too, I'm not really sure who would it be. It was familiar, yet the raw energy was keeping it hidden so I couldn't distinguish it, not unless if we get closer to it. **_

_I see. On it. I'll have Sasuke to lead the way. _

_**Tell him to keep his Susanoo intact. We cannot afford to be caught up in a damn genjutsu again. **_

Naruto chuckled at this, but he couldn't find himself to disagree so he only nodded._ Alright. I'll keep in touch with you, Kurama. _

_**Hn. **_

"Sasuke," he called out to his other friend who only looked at him with anticipation. "Kurama just called."

"What did he found?"

"The unearthly chakra that we just sensed earlier was already close. He said a few more walk would lead us there and—"

"And?"

"—keep your Susanoo intact if we don't want to get caught in a powerful genjutsu again." Sasuke only looked at him blankly, unperturbed, and he only shrug in response— eyeing him with a _Kurama's-call-not-mine _look.

"Very well," Sasuke turned around as he moved forward to take the lead, "Let's get moving."

Naruto turned his head to the remaining shaken women. Eiri was already in order, her once disheveled self was gone instantaneously while...

"Nakatsukasa-san? Are you okay now?" the blonde Jinchūriki asked the silent ravenette who only nodded weakly.

"I'm...fine," she murmured as she stood up, wiping her tears with her palm. "I'm fine. Let's get moving. Sorry for the delay."

They continued their small trek once again in silence. With Sasuke's Susanoo protecting them, their small worries about being caught in a genjutsu again had dropped to zero. Feeling much safer with the purple barrier enclosing them, they could only look at the black shadows hissing distastefully on it.

Sasuke was first to see a glowing mass on a far distance. While narrowing his eyes to squint at it as they get closer and closer— his left eye started to burn in a discomforting manner again. The pain that he was feeling in his Rinnegan increased, the twitching, burning and the feeling of small pins piercing his eyeball got worsened— which making him flinch immediately as he dug the heel of his palm on it.

"The tree..." Sarada said breathlessly with pure anticipation, "...it's there!"

They saw a very huge tree, glowing ethereally on the distance like it was the only beacon on the very dark secluded forest. Huge roots were sticking out of the ground, huge thick vines encircling its very wide trunk. The whole tree was glowing like it was been swarmed by thousands of fireflies, illuminating the ancient tree amidst the darkness that it was almost enchanting, really magical and unworldly in a sense.

"It's really huge," the Fujima commented, totally captivated at the colossal tree in front of them. "So Kaede, this is the _Tree of Unknown_?"

Kaede eyed the tree warily but she nodded in response, "Yes, it is. Please don't get deceived by its appearance. This tree is dangerous."

"It's always a wonder how we couldn't see this huge tree from above? It's too huge and very tall, a sure give away to people that this tree really exist."

"It's a mystery, Shishou."

"Papa? You alright?" worried voice of Sarada filled the tense environment. All heads were turned to her quickly as she begun to assess the uncomfortable Sasuke who's digging his palm on his other eye.

The pain was getting unbearable for Sasuke that he felt the urge to just rip the eye off of its socket and throw it somewhere. He couldn't concentrate and he swore that at any moment right now, he couldn't hold the partial Susanoo in place anymore.

A sudden blinding ache in his temple made him stagger backwards as he shut both of his eyes to hold the pain. Just as what he expected, the Susanoo was starting to disappear slowly. Alarming gazes of Kaede and Eiri eyed the vanishing barrier as they found the struggling Uchiha, staggering backwards to them.

"Papa!" Sarada touched her father's arm worriedly, as she helped him to balance. "What's wrong? Are you in pain?"

Naruto was on his side really quick as he assessed his friend while at the same time looking at the tree warily. The tree glows much brighter, as if it sensed their very presence. The air shifted again, while an unknown aura started to fill the vicinity— setting their internal alarm bells to ring out.

_**Naruto, distance yourself and the others now! **_Kurama's ordered quickly in his mind conscious.

With a quick hand seal of his infamous Kage Bunshin, three Naruto clones appeared swooping Sarada, Eiri and Kaede off while he positioned Sasuke's sole arm over his shoulder. The thick vines surrounding the huge tree went alive and it started moving in a fast pace. Before it could reach and seize them; Naruto and his clones bolted out of the ground and they leaped back, invading the huge vines reaching out for them.

_What is this, Kurama? Why this tree has the same atmosphere with that old Shinju Tree of Kaguya's?! _

_**I have a feeling that this tree and that Shinju Tree were kind of related. My memory is kind of fuzzy, Naruto. I think I knew this tree from before. **_

That made Naruto pause for a moment, swerving his body and Sasuke's out of the way when a huge vine tried to catch them.

_What do you mean? _

_**Look above, kid! **_

"Shit—" Naruto cussed under his breath as he shunshin-ned his way out of the aggravating creepy huge vines. His eyes widened in shock as he spotted many portals appearing on the site. Feeling really panicky at seeing those weird portals opening, a small portal suddenly appeared above him making him flinch and cuss more loudly this time, moving to another safe place once again.

Naruto searched for his other clones to check his companions if they were still alright. Much to his relief, he spotted them on the distance— still breathing but really wary.

_Damn it. Kurama, tell me what are these damn portals doing? Why so many? _

Silence.

_Kurama? _

Another silence.

_Damn it_, he cussed once again. He couldn't count how many times he cussed for the whole day, but he swore he'll slip another set of profanities later on.

"Where the hell is Kurama now?" he said out of disbelief, almost forgetting the Uchiha's presence beside him.

"Naruto," Sasuke called out to his other friend with a slight nudge of his sole arm. "I'm fine now. You can let go of me."

"Sasuke!" relief filled Naruto as he looked at the Uchiha, "How are you feeling?"

"Fine." Sasuke blinked his eyes slowly, the sight's getting better again. "Sorry about that."

"No worries. I saw you really in pain." Naruto waved his apology with a small wave of hand, "What happened?"

"My eye, it suddenly overcame with pain. I have no single idea about what's the problem with it. I haven't experienced this kind of problem with my eye before."

"If Sakura-chan was here, she'll check it right away what's bothering that eye of yours." the blonde Jinchūriki commented casually, "But why only the Rinnegan? I thought it was the Sharingan that causes you more pain?"

"I don't know." Sasuke replied him curtly, narrowing his eyes as he spotted the number of portals increasing. "This is not the perfect time to chatter, Naruto. Let's move."

"_Shannaro!_" Sarada's battle cry caught Naruto and Sasuke's attention immediately. The loud noise of splintering barks and lightning chirps echoed all over the place. The other two kunoichi simply evade the small chunks of flying barks, their weapons poised in their hands— ready to defend at any moment.

While activating his bloodline limit back, he unsheathed his katana out of its scabbard and channelled some chakra in his feet. A very huge moving root was on its way to Sarada, but before the root could reach her— Sasuke, being the quick shinobi he was, he appeared suddenly (much to Sarada's surprise) and slashing the thick root with his lightning-infused katana. He pushed more of his lightning on it, absolutely obliterating the huge root in seconds.

More thick vines and roots were attacking them in different directions. Naruto created many clones of his own, eliminating many of the vines and roots with his Rasengan. Eiri and Kaede were executing different kinds of ninjutsu to expel those annoying living plants too as they moved in synchronized to each other.

Sarada eyed the huge tree in calculation. While she was fighting off the roots and some living vines, she was quick to make hypotheses inside her mind— making her to conclude that there's no one who's controlling the aggravating plants but only the huge tree itself. While thinking of many possible scenarios in her mind, she could only grin in complete triumph as a sudden thought came to her. Making a two clones of herself, she concealed her chakra and quickly dashed her way closer to the tree while evading roots and vines swiftly in the process.

Naruto and Sasuke was quick to spot her nearing the tree. Sarada's black cloak was billowing behind as she ran straight to the wide tree trunk. Before the latter could give the young genin an earful scolding at the distance— Sarada and her clones began to place sticker bombs on the bark, on the branches and wherever she could see fit on the tree. She swore that she have no sticker bombs left in her pouch, but as she eyed the last remaining bomb that she tampered on; she quickly jumped away with her two clones giving her a last hard shove back. Already pleased with the amount of distance between her and the tree while in mid-air— she made a single hand seal, quickly detonating the bombs that she put on the tree.

With her single hand seal command, the bombs instantly blew up the tree noisily. The huge roots and vines that were attacking them had stopped the moment of the explosion. The force of the huge continuous explosion caused Sarada to be pushed more forcefully; like being catapulted back roughly. Bracing her awful crash somewhere, her back suddenly met a body— with a strong arm wrapping securely on her waist on a tight grip. Almost feeling dizzy with the harsh impact, her eyes found the serious gaze of her father's as if he was ready to reprimand her because of her foolish and dangerous display of heroism. But to Sarada's surprise, her father didn't scold her— he just simply looked away from her, with his mismatched eyes found the continuous explosion on the distance.

"Papa..?"

"That was dangerous." Sasuke cuts her off immediately, "But job well done, Sarada." he remarked softly.

Sarada's eyes widen at that, feeling really woozy and lightheaded at the fact that her father just praised her. _Praised her_, for kami's sake. Aside from her mother's constant praises of her achievements in life— either it may be small or not she had longed to hear some words of praise and approval from her father too. To hear his father praise her just like that (even though small) really made her happy. Before she could stutter out a reply, she noticed that the explosion already ended; leaving a thick grey smoke behind on its wake. When the place got cleared, their eyes caught the movement of the vines and roots retracting back on its way from the huge tree— as if it was _retreating_. Sasuke adjusted his hold on her waist and they jumped down where the others stood defensively.

"It worked." Eiri commented with a surprised look, "Looks like the tree has a life of its own."

"It is," Kaede agreed as she nodded, "I forgot to mention that this tree is capable of controlling everything and whatever this living thing deems fit."

The thick vines encircled the tree trunk protectively and securely, covering the awful dents of the aftermath of the explosion. It then glowed just like before, giving it an ethereal glow as the vines rested on the trunk, not moving anymore.

After the vines, the small portals were closing; disappearing immediately the moment the portal gaps had closed.

"...What just happened?"

_**Naruto. **_

_Kurama? Where were you? I was calling out for you earlier! _

_**He's going to help us. **_

That made Naruto falter for a second. _Who— ...what? _

_**He's here to help us retrieve that Uchiha's wife. **_

_Who are you talking about, Kurama? _

_**You'll see. **_

"Tch, Kurama speaking all vague again." the blonde Uzumaki murmured.

"He contacted you? What did he say?"

"He said about _someone_ who's going to help us find Sakura-chan."

_**Naruto, he's here. **_

_What—_

A bright figure appeared above them. It was an old man, his appearance was very frail an obvious indication of his senescent age. His brows were more prominent, and he had deep wrinkles in his face and his once white hair had turned to grey. His choppy bangs were short hung to the left side of his face while a chin-length lock hung from the right side. He also had these two small, horn-like protrusions on his forehead and a _Byakugan_ in both of his eyes. He also wore white with a black wide collar ceremonial kimono and a light green sash tied over his right shoulder— with also two _magatama_ tattoos rested below in his collarbones.

In his right hand, he held a long black _shakujō_.

"W-who..?" Sarada was absolutely stupefied at the figure materializing above them. She saw his eyes, he had a _Byakugan_. Maybe he's a relative of Aunt Hinata?

"You.. You're Rikudo Sennin's—" Naruto was also surprised as well.

"Ōtsutsuki Hamura." Sasuke finally named the old man who only nodded once and bowed his head in greeting.

"My humblest greetings to all of you," Hamura's low gruff voice filled the quiet place. "I am indeed Ōtsutsuki Hamura."

"Why are you here?"

"There had been disturbances between two different planes." he said as he stayed afloat, "Half of my spirit remains in here, while the other half was in the moon. I no longer alive, but I am here for guidance. I'm the one who guard this tree for a millennium. As you can see, this tree opens to many different worlds."

"_Many_? So it means there has lots of other existing worlds out there?" Sarada asked politely, getting more and more surprised with the mind-blowing revelations.

"Yes, young one. There are many worlds revolving inside the imaginary circle. This world is not the only one existing."

"If that's so. Then how could we find my mother? How could we find her if there's a lot of different worlds revolving, and we're not even sure to what specific world she were in? So it was useless afterall?" the younger Uchiha said worriedly, her large obsidian eyes found the soft pupil-less eyes of the Ōtsutsuki.

Hamura stared at Sarada, eyes still soft and understanding. "Patience and perseverance, my child." he said with a kind smile. "Where is your faith?"

"I... faith?"

"Yes, faith." he repeated, his gaze found the silent figures of Naruto and Sasuke. "Do you also have faith, you two?" both of them were still silent and the Ōtsutsuki continued, "Without faith, you will not find what you desire." his eyes found the remaining two adult kunoichis. "Without it, then you'll lose. Would you like that?"

"You don't want that to happen, isn't it?" Hamura said with a slight tilt of his head, "Then persevere. And let your faith lead you."

"You're not just here to give us your wisdom, am I right?" Naruto chose to speak this time, "Kurama said you'll gonna help us."

"Precisely," Hamura acquiesced automatically, "I called out to him immediately so that I could give help. The disturbance between worlds uneased me. If I couldn't stop nor prevent it, it will cause havoc in the worlds soon."

"Then what do we need to do? Can you send us to where Sakura-chan is?"

"I can do that. But still, I am warning you. It won't be that simple,"

Naruto turned his head to Sasuke who only nodded in acceptance. "There's no easy way to handle this. What do you want us to do?" Sasuke asked in compliance.

Hamura positioned himself in an indian seat, still afloat with his shakujō on. He then closed his eyes and concentrated.

"Uchiha Sakura's unwanted presence on the other world was the main cause of disturbance." he started to move positions while in mid-air, closing his distance to the large glowing tree. "_Someone_ from that world forced her to co-exist with them. Which means that person forced an opening between worlds— a forbidden act that shouldn't be done."

Naruto clenched his fist at the revelation, Sarada only gasped with her hands flying on her mouth, while Sasuke—

His lips was pulled downwards, sole hand balled into fist so tight that he wanted to punch someone in the face until their face would be a bloody mess.

"Even though I am capable of crossing the worlds, my condition forbids me to do so. Spirits couldn't cross other worlds or we'll perish. The other world was out of my hands, I could only give you guidance in here but," Hamura opened his eyes, meeting the serious gazes of the Konoha shinobi. "I can open the doors and send you to her world and do the honor to retrieve her back."

"Is there a catch to get in there? Would it take too much?"

"Good question, young child. You have a pleasing future ahead of you, you'll make your people proud. Such intelligence." Hamura said vaguely, meeting the surprised look of Sarada. "There is an exchange for you to open the doors. That exchange would be the one who'll keep your ties in here so that you wouldn't get stuck to the other world. It's the only guidance that I could offer."

"Very well," Sasuke commented as he took a step forward. "We'll take it."

"Uchiha Sasuke," the ancient brother of the renowned sage called out to him, "How many dearest people you had lost?"

The sudden question made Sasuke recoil for a second, but he replied nonetheless. "_More_. More than you could ever imagine."

Eiri looked away somberly at this while Kaede did a sad expression. Sasuke might be too composed, but they knew the real sorrow and life struggles in his eyes. It reflected sorrow, exhaustion, devastation—

"Clear your mind, breach your soul to reach yourself and follow your only heart. It would save you." Hamura said vaguely once again, "Forgive thy enemy, do not avenge thyself except by doing him good. Desire nothing for thyself, seek nothing, and be not anxious or envious."

"Uzumaki Naruto," the blonde Jinchūriki raised his head at the call of his name, "The Child of Prophecy. You had experienced many trials in life along with the Uchiha. But that struggles will not lessen, for it is a requirement for you to find yourself. Accept your fears. Embrace it."

"Nakatsukasa Kaede," Hamura turned his head to the surprised kunoichi at the distance.

"H-how—" she stammered out, obviously taken aback by the old sage to know her by the name.

Hamura stared at her for a moment, "Amalgam." he murmured, "A child with an amalgam blood trait..."

"...What?" Kaede was left very confused at that.

"Where do your heart lies? Is it here?"

Kaede was confused, very baffled at the obscurity that the old man was asking her. What kind of a question was that?

"Of course it would be here! This... this is my home."

"Very well." Hamura eyed her for a second as he closed his eyes and gave a curt nod. "Stop living in the past, child. Happiness can exist only in acceptance."

"Fujima Eiri," Hamura called the last remaining kunoichi who only gave him a polite 'yes', "Stop running away. Follow your heart this time."

Eiri's eyes widened in complete surprise, shock painted her feminine features as a sudden thought of a particular man had crossed her mind.

The Ōtsutsuki reached his other hand for the Konoha trio, "Please step forward so that we could start the ritual. And as for you two..." he pointed to Eiri and Kaede, "Please step back."

Kaede shook her head in disagreement, "I want to come with them too! M-my sister, she got sucked out of this tree and I want to get her back!"

"Would you pay in exchange of your own life?" Hamura asked her levelly, pupil-less eyes shone brightly stunning Kaede at her place.

"But why can't I? While them—"

"Child, they were about to sacrifice their invaluable possessions in them. I'm afraid that you cannot leave this place for some other...reasons." his voice lowered at this while Kaede's face was crestfallen. "There has limits. I could only transport three people willingly. It is against the rules to transport people to other worlds— but this is an exception."

Kaede was silent as she looked down dejectedly. Eiri placed a hand over her shoulder and giving it a comforting squeeze. "We should give up for now, Kaede."

"But Mirai..." her eyes began to water again.

Eiri shook her head sadly, softly pulling her to a hug. "Everything happens for a reason, Kaede. Learn to retreat just for once. We'll get to see her someday." she gave an understanding nod to the old Ōtsutsuki and ushered the sobbing woman out of the vicinity— as they put a distance away from the tree.

Several blue floating torches began to appear, as it formed a perfect circle around them. Hamura's Truth-Seeking orbs hovered behind him, floating in a sigmoidal formation.

"Are you three ready?"

He earned respectful nods from the trio and he started to instruct them what they needed to do. First, Hamura instructed Naruto to release his Juubi, or Kurama's full chakra by using his Tailed Beast Mode. Naruto immediately released the said chakra, a burst of yellow and orange energy began to surround him like a ball of burning fire. Sarada couldn't help but to be fascinated at Naruto's display of power, the chakra was so warm and powerful. She was looking at the Nanadaime, really awed; with her lips slightly parting breathlessly. She had saw this form a lot of times whenever he was in action. And seeing up this close had always been breathtakingly beautiful.

"Kurama, are you sure about this?" she heard Naruto say in a lower tone, like he was being uncertain. He kept on calling that name for almost umpteenth times, she even heard that name from her Papa too. Now it made her wonder who's that Kurama was.

"_**Of course I am sure, kid.**_" a gruff and a sure voice caught her attention as a huge, enormous yellow-orange orb started to separate away from Naruto— materializing a colossal figure of a nine tailed fox, with the same energy as the Nanadaime's. Both of them had the same appearance, both surrounded with this fiery yellow-orange chakra with black intricate marks in their bodies. Now she was sure that this huge nine tailed beast that Naruto and her father kept on mentioning— was Kurama.

"_**That female Senju's apprentice needs your help. She's in a world where bijuu like me doesn't exist,**_" Kurama said with a nonchalant attitude, "_**and I lived within you. If I still happened to be with you while you are been transported there, then I'll be lost forever.**_" Naruto's eyes widened at this, shocked at the new revelation. "_**So I need to stay here to keep in touch with you. I will be your connection and to the Uchiha's.**_"

"Connection?" Naruto asked confusingly.

"The Kyūbi in here will serves as an anchor for you three in the other world." Hamura explained, his eyes flitted to Kurama and to Naruto. "To keep your identities from getting lost."

"What do you mean..?"

"With Kurama as your anchor in this world, he will be your connection. You three will be tied to him until you retrieve Uchiha Sakura from the other world. Without him, you'll get stuck to that world— losing your original identities, memories and leaving no remnants you have from this world. Staying too much in the other worlds has it's own consequences. I'm not sure how many days, weeks, months would it take for a foreign existence to get accustomed to the new world. But if the luck is in your side, let's just hope that Uchiha Sakura hasn't lost herself yet— and was fighting her own battles to get back here."

The mere thought scared Sarada. Her mother got missing for seven months and no doubt she was already stucked on the other world, might forget about her real self and losing her memories, and then she will be forced to co-exist with different people that she never knew at all. She'll might forget about the people she knew, her acquaintances, the village, her family— _them_, and her very **home**.

_Stop right there, Sarada. Don't jump into conclusions yet. _

She only let a shaky sigh, rubbing her moist eyes with her arm. She needed to stop thinking so negatively. It's bad for her emotions and her mind. She couldn't afford to shed another more tears in such situation.

"I see. Thank you... for all of these, Kurama." Naruto said with a smile as he raised his fist towards the fox who only mirrored his gesture. "You're the best buddy ever."

"_**Tch. Don't mention that. I missed getting on the front lines, you know?**_" Kurama said really smugly, bumping his large fist over Naruto's.

"You're still cocky as ever, Kurama." the Uzumaki grinned at the fox as he returned the bonding gesture. "I'm counting on you."

"_**Hn.**_" Kurama smirked in acquiescence.

"You're next, Sasuke." Hamura motioned for the older Uchiha to step in forward which he did so without defiance, "Activate your strongest kekkei genkai and the _Rinnegan_. That would serves as the key to open the gate to the other world."

Sasuke nodded in understanding. His lone obsidian eye quickly turned to an ordinary Sharingan and it transformed to the highest form of his clan's kekkei genkai— his own _Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. _

As if on cue, a somewhat huge blast of air coming from Kurama's swaying of tails made Sasuke's long side bangs to sweep away— revealing the fully charged purple six tomoe Rinnegan of his.

He was quite thankful that the itching and burning of his left eye had already vanished. He still doesn't know what caused his eye to burn and hurt just like that earlier— but to know that his eyes were fine now (like as it was before), he decided to leave the nagging question in the depths of his mind to mainly focus on what's happening on the reality.

"As for you, young child." Sasuke heard Hamura calling the attention of his daughter. His free hand was gesturing for Sarada to move in the center, in between him and Naruto. While Kurama moved in position, leaving a decent space— as he sat just behind the three of them. "Preventing of getting lost and to be sent on a wrong cosmos— your blood connection to your mother will help the three of you to be transported to the right world. Your blood is also a key that will connects you to the world she were in." he explained dutifully and patiently.

While seeing the three of them in their respective positions, Hamura started to hover above them— still afloat and clutching his shakujō in his other hand. Naruto was on the left side and Sasuke was on the right side, while Sarada was in between and Kurama stayed behind them; sitting and patient. While nodding in approval at them, he stood in his position and he looked at them.

"This will be my last guidance and I'm going to proceed to do the ritual." he started and continued, "First and foremost, be careful and don't do brash decisions if you're in there. To get you in advantage, you need to seek the guardian of that world so that he or she could guide and help you— just as like what I am doing for you."

He dug the heel of his shakujō, the encircling floating blue torches had created thin chakra strings as it shot towards the large bijuu. It attached to Kurama's body like it was some sort of chaining him into place. Kurama was still nonchalant as ever, as he wait for the Ōtsutsuki to finish the remaining steps of the ritual, patiently.

"Uchiha Sarada. Please make a shallow cut to both of your palms, just enough to let the blood out. And after you do so, please press both of your palms. Naruto, Sasuke— hold on to the child, and Kurama hold on to the both of them."

They gave a nod of acquiescence, and Sarada pulled a kunai out of her pouch and started to make a shallow cut in both of her palms just as what Hamura instructed. She let go of the bloodstained kunai as it fell silently on the grassy ground. Sarada gave a determined nod to the both adults behind her and she then clapped her both palms— smearing her palms with the oozing blood that was coming out of it. Naruto and Sasuke was immediately holding to her shoulders and Kurama also did the same to Naruto and Sasuke— with his large index fingers pressed to their backs.

"Have any last words in this world before you depart?" Hamura asked in his old gruff voice yet soft spoken.

"I already sent a message to the village before we came in this forest. Kakashi-sensei would immediately get the drill." Naruto replied with a smile. "We'll disappear for a while after all."

"What about you, Sasuke?"

"I already did." he said curtly, "To my wife's parents that is." Sarada's blinked at that but she couldn't help the small smile that was appearing in her lips.

"Very well. What about you, young one?" Hamura's attention was on the remaining young Uchiha who looked down sadly.

"I... didn't managed to leave a proper goodbye to my friends before leaving the village." Sarada said, "But I know they will understand. Uncle Kakashi will be there to fill them in if they are desperate y'know."

"I see." Hamura nodded and then he looked at the three of them and then to Kurama. "Brace yourselves."

A huge blast of air from the ground made the three of them close their eyes, except for Sasuke whose kekkei genkai and Rinnegan still in place— concentrating adamantly on the tree. It was so strong that if they wouldn't concentrate some chakra in their feet, they would really lose their sense of balance. The chakra strings that attached to Kurama was now covered with his own fiery bright chakra as it then binds around his body and it paved the way to the bodies of Naruto, Sasuke and lastly to Sarada.

"Have a safe journey ahead of you."

That was the last thing that they heard coming from Hamura when they felt a sudden harsh pull from nowhere. A blinding light reflected towards them as the tree begun to bright so majestically. They saw a shadowy portal opening from it, and then all of a sudden— the three Konoha shinobis was been pushed towards it like a dirt being sucked on a huge vacuum.

They disappeared suddenly after that, not leaving any traces of them anymore.

And that was the last time they had saw the shinobi world.

* * *

Soft rays of sunlight started to peek over the slightly opened thick maroon curtains. It was obvious that the sun was starting to rise, and was ready to greet people again with its shining brightness. It then reached the insides of the dark room, slightly illuminating the gloom that emanates over the place. Like a sacred lamp with a soft ambers of light, it was slowly purging the duskiness inside the huge luxurious room.

A soft knock rasped on the mahogany door, as it slowly opened revealing a girl in her twenties with her dull brown locks donned in a kempt proper ponytail and a white frilly chambermaid headband. Underneath the white frilly apron, she wore a black dress uniform with a slightly puffed sleeves. Her brown knee-length boots padded in the soft red carpets with a clean dress and other undergarments clutched securely in her feminine arms.

"Milady," the girl politely called out as she stood a decent distance between her and the bed, "Your choices of clean apparels are here."

"Thank you. Please leave it there." a soft voice replied.

"Do you want me to prepare your bath, Milady?" she offered politely.

A pause, a noise of moving sheets could be heard in the quiet room. The canopy bed's curtains was slightly been pushed, revealing smooth legs as it dangled on the side of the bed.

"Yes please do. That would be nice."

With a nod, the maid turned around to place the dress on a chair neatly. "I'll leave you for a moment to prepare your bath, Milady."

"Mm, thank you again."

"You're very welcome."

The maid was already gone as she started to prepare the bath for the woman.

The said woman only rubbed her sleepy eyes. She turned her head on the gaps of the huge maroon curtains, almost squinting at the sunlight that passed through it.

Sleepy eyes softly blinked as she remembered that it was already morning. It means it is another day for her to get dressed, meet people on the way, eat breakfast and other more.

She pushed a unique shade of pink hair over her ear and she stood up, leaving her unkempt bed. The woman walked barefooted all the way to the huge curtains and she pushed it, greeting the bright rays of sunlight. She met the sunshine instantly, humming in satisfaction as she felt the warmth caressed her visible flesh such as her bare arms and her smooth fair legs. As she looked up, beautiful pair of emeralds blinked solemnly.

"Such warmth," she said softly.

She was looking forward to every mornings and she was not sure about why though. She had this nagging thought inside her mind, like she was waiting for _someone_, waiting something to happen, or to come— well, she doesn't know and it was weird, yes.

But she only knew one thing about why she was looking forward to the sun to come out almost everyday though.

Because the sun, it was the only thing that was providing her warmth afterall.

* * *

**Shimagame (****島亀****/Island Turtle)**\- also known as Genbu; a gigantic and ancient domesticated turtle that resides in the Land of Lightning. This is where Naruto went along with Killer Bee to control his kyūbi chakra and met his dark self (lol).

**Magatama (****勾玉****)**\- are curved, comma-shaped jewels that are forged from jade, and come in many different colors and sizes. They are also used as a sign of important status within Amegakure. All of the Ōtsutsuki has this symbols in their outfit; black magatamas.

**Shakujō (****錫杖****/Sounding Staff)**\- a staff that is formed by the will of the user from a pre-existing Truth-Seeking Ball; Hagoromo and Hamura wield this.

* * *

_**A/N: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa that's chapter six, guys! The trio will be no longer in the shinobi world in the next chapters, hah! So tell me, who was the woman in the last part? *grins evilly* Who do you think is it? Whooo? **_

_**So the next chapters will be more exciting, I think. I just isekai-d my beloved trio, who wouldn't think that was not exciting? xD**_

_**And oooh, I was so very pleased with the Sasuke Retsuden spoilers. Sasuke being jealous? Well, that was just like him. And well guess what, I have been thinking of putting a little bit scenes in this fic that was just connected to the novel. So SasuSaku fans out there, let's have some toast. *gets a saké out of nowhere* Let's celebrate for the sake of our beloved ship! **_

_**See you in the next chapter! Don't forget to review, guys. I would be so happy to see your reviews no matter how small it would be. **_

_**Constructive criticism is also open. You're free to leave suggestions and you can ask me everything about the fic too. **_

—_**SpringfieldOfCherryBlossoms **_

_**(08-04-19)**_


	8. Chapter VII

_**A/N: I'm back once again. Sorry for not updating right away though. My schedule was too tight, I couldn't even breathe with my never-ending piles of priorities. I hope you understand my late updates, I'm a graduating student who's also an intern in different kinds of health facilities in order to gain more experience and well, **__**"cases".**__** I need that thing before I take licensure exams after I graduate soooooooo—**_

_**I want to say thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter: felina12, Silica, Guest 1, Guest 2, Guest 3, Caitlin, ILoveSxS, thanhnhan, vousnemeconnaissezpas, and other more. Your reviews really made me smile and happy. Thank you very much for the support, and I love you very much oh kami. *cries***_

_**I do not own Naruto and the canon characters in here, but I do solely owned the plot. Thanks a lot to my friend Verona Blithewind for fixing this chapter for me. **_

_**This chapter is for you all. Enjoy!**_

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

**Nobles of Dark, Light and War**

* * *

"Oi, Boruto. There's something I want to tell yo—... ah, what's up with the moping again?"

The voice of a certain Nara friend was the first thing that he heard after he left discreetly the house this morning. He swore he was not moping really, he's just absolutely so absorbed with his thoughts that he almost stared off to space from time to time— thinking of the days, weeks that passed that he felt so lonely.

"Hey." Shikadai went closer to him, wearing that worried and befuddled look. "Do you hear me?"

With a sigh, he could only groan in exasperation as he rubbed his whiskered face with his both hands.

"Of course I am, Shikadai. I'm not deaf." he said with a dopey pout.

"Well, we thought you are. You hardly heard us calling out to you nowadays." Shikadai shrugged lazily, eyeing him with a calculating look. "You left early again, don't you?"

"It's not like there's something good in our house. It was pretty gloomy. With Himawari looking so sad as ever and Mom," he paused for a moment, remembering his mom looking at him sadly these past few days— trying to cheer him up, or _them_ rather. _I really made her worry. I feel so really bad. _

Shikadai noticing his distraction, he spoke again. "What's with your mom?"

"Mom is sad too. With my dad and Uncle Sasuke in pursuit of Aunt Sakura across the other countries— I could tell that the mission was dangerous and it would take them...very long."

The details of the said mission was still unknown to Boruto. When he found out from Sarada that her mother was been missing for so long— it had worried his parents too, along with Uncle Kakashi, Aunt Ino and the other shinobi elders who knows about the Uchiha matriarch. Sarada's mother was on a mission, but then she didn't came back. Got missing for _seven months_, been officially declared as a _missing kunoichi_— it depressed the elders really bad, and Sarada..

Sarada

He felt himself getting mad at her, feeling really bitter and somewhat hurt that she left without saying a proper goodbye to them or something. They were some sort of sworn rivals, yes, but ever since they were in the same team... he had come to understand and like Sarada's company altogether with Mitsuki during missions. But now—

Unbeknownst to him, Shikadai was looking at him with a soft look. Boruto was unconsciously clenching his fist so tight that he swore he's ready to snap at any moment. That aggravating girl...

"It's Sarada again, isn't it?" Shikadai commented civilly and continued, "You should understand her, Boruto. It's not like the Nanaidame and her father wouldn't take care of her. They are much suitable for the job if you ask me."

That made Boruto recoil for a second. His clenched fist slowly softened as he looked at Shikadai like he was growing another head.

"What are you trying to _imply_?" he said kind of offensively that he almost wanted to backtrack to correct his intonation but he ignored it immediately and corrected himself instead, "What are you talking about?"

"You're just worried for Sarada. We _knew_ Boruto." Shikadai said, giving him a pointing look. He was ready to retort the Nara's somewhat accusation but he was been interjected right away. "Nuh-uh, stop denying it, idiot. Just like you, we're very worried for her as well. There's nothing you should be ashamed of. She was your only girl teammate afterall."

Boruto was speechless after that. Shikadai was right, there was nothing to be ashamed about being worried for a certain friend. But, he couldn't understand his anger towards her. He felt really so betrayed, he felt really bad that he hadn't noticed his teammate's absence for days. If it weren't for that Akimichi girl, he wouldn't find out about Sarada. The girl was just worried, that when she ran to them on Ichiraku's— she couldn't stop talking about: "Sarada, where is Sarada?" "Have you seen her?" "I couldn't find her everywhere!" "Do you know where she is?" "Her grandparents was very worried."

He's sure that he was stunned like a complete statue that day— like he was been splashed by an ice water from head to toe. Sarada was missing too? That's all he could think from that very moment.

By calling out his other friends: Denki, Iwabe, Metal, Sumire, Namida and Wasabi (along with Cho Cho and Shikadai)— they went to every places that Sarada would usually confined in. First to her house, to her favorite restaurant, favorite bookstore, favorite spot to trained on—

But to no luck, they couldn't find her of course. And then that's where Yamanaka Inojin appeared, telling them that Sarada was on a mission. And not just an ordinary mission at that; it's a _mission_ of Aunt Sakura's retrieval.

_"Sarada left with them— that night, on to the last minute. Uchiha-san and the Hokage is with her. That's what I heard from my mother."_

Hearing the information coming from Inojin really enraged Boruto. He needed a lot of answers—_legitimate_—full informations. And there's no way he's going to be left out again. He would go there and get the information himself.

After that, Boruto and the others decided to take a visit to a certain perverted-individual-slash-ex-Hokage to get some answers about his old man's mission. And when they get in there, that's where he found Sarada's grandparents talking to Kakashi— who was discussing with them about Sarada's absence.

Kakashi was not really pleased when he saw them flocking inside the Hokage's office, but due to Boruto's persistence about asking where the hell Sarada was— the old Hatake couldn't help but to give in and discuss it again to them about their missing friend's whereabouts.

He totally regretted for not coming with his mother and Himawari to the departure of his old man. If only he was not being mopey and overly dramatic that day, maybe he would see and stop Sarada from—

_Stopping? Where did that thought came from..?_

No. There's no way he could stop Sarada from going with them. Sarada's too forceful, fiesty, and quite headstrong. Not even _him_ could stop her from doing what she wanted. Heck, not even her grandparents could stop her (much to Boruto's mild annoyance).

But why does he feel so betrayed? Why thinking about her going with them really upsets him?

_Well, yeah, I am fully aware that I'm not that strong enough— but so as Sarada._ He groaned mopey-ly at the thought._ I have always thought that it was pretty badass having dad and Sarada's dad with me while fighting those space aliens back then. But looks like Sarada has the main spotlight as for now._

Hearing no response from Boruto made Shikadai to sigh with his arms resting behind his head. He leaned on a tree, closing his eyes for a moment. "Welp, looks like you're not interested on what I am going tell you. It's about your father anyways."

Boruto's ears perked at this, "What?"

Shikadai gave him a boyish smirk, "Earlier, Inojin's father went to our house and told my dad that he was needed. There was a message coming from your father via summon, so my dad immediately went to the Hokage Tower— altogether with Inojin's father."

"Really?" he said, his sour mood earlier had brightened. "What does it say?"

"Sai-san didn't disclose too much information there, but he said something with the lines of '_they arrived safely and was now in pursuit of the tree_'. Oi— just _where_ are you going?"

Boruto bolted away, leaving Shikadai who had a confused look on his face. "I'm going to Hokage Tower, Shikadai! Come with me!"

The Nara only scratched his cheek with exasperation and groaned, "Troublesome."

"Shikadai!"

"Fine, fine. I'm coming, idiot." he murmured.

.

.

.

.

The trip from the training grounds to Hokage Tower was really short. The both genins found themselves inside the building right away, seeing the familiar faces of the shinobi elders entering the Hokage's office. Shikadai halted as he gripped Boruto's arm.

"Wouldn't they get mad because we're here? It's all about adult stuff, isn't it?" said Shikadai as the elders had already gone inside the room.

By twisting his arm, he immediately got out of his friend's hold. "Don't be stupid, Shikadai. My mom is there too, so I'll bet it's fine. Plus, it is my dad. So I have a right to be there also. Not just them."

Shikadai let out another sigh, "Whatever, Boruto. If my dad will going to give me an earful scolding after this and would eventually tell my mother, I'll make you pay."

"Pfft, as if you bothered taking his scoldings at heart. You hardly care when your dad scold you, telling 'troublesome' or what."

"But my mother's scolding was different," Shikadai shivered momentarily as he thought of his scary mother, pinching his ear while scolding him. "She's... well,"

Boruto, noticing the slight shiver coming from Shikadai— he only nodded and gulping. He totally forgot how scary Shikadai's mom was. "...Scary."

"Yeah, _that_."

Boruto nodded, but he looked at the door of the office. "But it's too late now to retreat, isn't it? I'll bet they have already knew about our presence here."

"Tch, just get over with it already." Shikadai pushed him towards the door's office, making Boruto to stumble forward awkwardly.

As he stumbled forward, the doors of the Hokage's office opened with his weight. "Oi!" he admonished.

"Ah, Boruto. Finally," Kakashi's voice caught his and Shikadai's attention. All of the heads were now already turned to them— and he swore he saw the surprised look of his mother while seeing him in the same room. "I see, you're here to listen too, aren't you?"

"Well, I wouldn't lie, Uncle Kakashi. So I would say, yeah." Boruto trudged forward, both hands on his nin pants coolly. "What's the catch?"

Not minding Boruto's sort of a rude straightforward question. The ex-Hokage leaned his body on the desk, as he look at a piece of paper there.

"Hmm," Kakashi fingered a single note from Naruto's Hokage's desk. "Naruto and Sasuke had managed to get in Takumi Village safely and Sarada too." he said, "He said about the forest, or the _tree_ rather— doing some ruckus in the village." his dark eyes was still fixated on the letter, "He also mentioned about traumatized patients."

"Traumatized patients?" curious voice of a certain Yamanaka matriarch caught his attention. Just as what he thought, Inojin's mother would be there too. "What happened, Kakashi-sensei?"

"I believed that something happened to the village before Naruto and Sasuke arrived. About missing people, shadows abducting villagers closer to the borders, and traumatized victims."

"So let me guess, the case from the Land of Rivers from fifteen years ago was similar to what happened to the people?"

"Ah, yes exactly." Kakashi nodded curtly with a sigh, "The tree was still a mystery. And until now, no one soul who dares to enter that forest. But with Naruto and Sasuke's mission about Sakura's abduction, they chose to investigate the area with the lone sane survivor."

All the occupants of the room looked at Kakashi knowingly. While Boruto and Shikadai only shared curious glances.

"That means Naruto and Sasuke had met the _woman_, yes?" Shikadai's father piped in, earning a positive nod from the ex-Hokage.

"Looks like it. Even though the message was kind of undetailed, if you ask me." Kakashi shrugged momentarily but he continued, "But it was understandable. Sakura's abduction would cause an uproar over the nations. I had already discussed this matter with the other Kage's and we agreed to make the situation secret as much as possible. At first, they didn't like the thought of Naruto leading the mission because of his Hokage status— but I managed to convince them whole-heartedly this time. They knew how important Sakura was in the Konoha, and we all knew that nobody could stop Naruto from saving his precious people."

Boruto's keen eyes didn't fail to notice his mother's sad smile and the others' somber expression at the mention of his old man's nature. He knew his father was well-respected of the villagers and the other Konoha-nins, but to see his closest friends being so sad about the mention of him altogether with Aunt Sakura's abduction— really made him thought how really important they were.

"Naruto had mentioned that the village needs medical help. They lack medics." he lowered the letter on the desk, "I'll might send Tsunade-sama and the other medics in there. Ino, your skills on mind jutsu will be handy— so I guess I'll send you in there too and I need you to investigate what they had saw before the accident." Kakashi said to the blonde woman who only nodded in understanding, "And Shikamaru, I need you to call Orochimaru. I have many things to ask him. And Hinata," his eyes found the opalescent eyes of the Uzumaki. "Naruto wants to remind you to take care of yourself and the kids. And he said not to worry too much."

Hinata only nodded with a smile, with her once saddened face brightened up at the mention of her husband's message.

"We'll just have to wait for Naruto's next letter. If we don't receive any on the next following days, then it means they were successful on finding the portal."

When he earned nods from Hinata, Ino, Sai and Shikamaru in compliance— Kakashi's gaze found Boruto's and Shikadai for a moment and that's where he leaned back to his (or Naruto's) comfy chair. "That's all, now you're dismissed."

* * *

_Mother and father,_

_Sarada's with me. She told me about telling you both not to worry. I promise to protect her with all my life and I'll get Sakura back, I assure you._

_Sasuke_

Mebuki only smiled as she read the letter a countless of times, silently. The neat penmanship amused her as always, she had always thought that Sasuke's penmanship was more neat and readable compared to the doctor scribbles of her daughter (not that she would tell it to Sakura of course; her daughter will be _disheartened_).

She was doing her everyday morning regimen such as watering her dear beloved plants when a familiar hawk just descended in front of her. At first, she was confused at the bird summon, but when she finally recognized who's hawk it was— she reached her arm out and automatically, the tamed hawk only perched its feet on her exposed limb.

"Mebuki, darling~" a sing song voice of Haruno Kizashi called out to her, making her turn her head around, searching for the voice. She spotted her goofy husband on their living room— from the window itself, holding a spatula in his hand. "Come here, breakfast is ready!"

She shook her head with a small chuckle. Really, her husband was really something.

"I'm coming! Just wait a sec!" she shouted back as she patted the hawk's head in thanks and then the bird opened its wings and flew away. Mebuki held the paper in her hand while she hastily trudged her way back to their abode.

"Anata! Sasuke-kun delivered a letter!" she chirped brightly as she entered the house, waving the letter as for evidence.

* * *

He was greeted with severe numbness.

Sasuke has been a shinobi for decades, and he was sure as hell that he was used to numbness from time to time— either it may be from poisons, paralyzing drug or jutsus or from chakra exhaustion. But this kind of _numbness_... was like he was been paralyzed for so many ages that he couldn't feel himself to move any of his body parts. He couldn't even flex his own fingers._ Tch. How troublesome_, he noted inwardly.

He felt so lightheaded and really bare. Sasuke even thought that his head feels like it was been squashed to tidbits, with additional sharp pains in his temples and some other parts of his poor cranium. And still, he couldn't remember what happened, why he couldn't move his body and why he felt so numb all over the places—

_Sakura's abduction..._

_Arcana..._

_Portals..._

_The Cursed Forest..._

_Tree of Dimensions..._

_The Sage of the Six Paths' brother, Ōtsutsuki Hamura..._

Like a huge tidal wave of tsunami washed over him, he could now remember everything in complete detail and full clarity. It was all because of Sakura's failed infiltration mission in Amegakure and her sudden abduction by an unknown denizen coming from another world.

And now, all he can see was _black_.

Why he couldn't _see_ anything?

With a slight tilt and scrunch of his nose, he could feel a baggy rough material being covered all over his head. Sasuke almost grimace in complete distaste when his olfactory receptors caught a whiff of unpleasant musty odor.

_A sack? _

Have they been abducted too?

Alarm bells started to rang inside his mind conscious as he finally realized his unexpected, current shitty predicament. He could feel the dread churning his guts in anxiety. If they got kidnapped and has been in a vulnerable position; then there's no doubt that the three of them were at disadvantage that's for sure.

Trying to use his other cards in his arsenal. He tried to turn his bloodline limit on, but when he did so— he was left dumbfounded when he couldn't feel that familiar pulsation of chakra in his eyes. He could only blink in utter disbelief, as he tried it again and again with no positive outcomes. What the hell was happening with him? He's not only incapacitated from head to toe, but he couldn't use his dōjutsu too?

He was absolutely vulnerable this time. Why he couldn't turn his Sharingan on? Sasuke couldn't even control his body let alone command it to move on his will. Was it chakra depletion? If it was chakra depletion, then that would explain the severe numbness and exhaustion that he suffers all over his body— plus the inaccessible ocular prowess. If he will be honest, it was like his entire life energy was been sucked out of his person, leaving him all bones and unlively.

It was too early for him to conclude things beforehand, but he couldn't afford to believe that it was already _dead end_. He still have a wife to save and a daughter to protect—

_The mission._ He couldn't forget about the mission. He almost curse himself from forgetting such a vital objective.

_Where is Naruto and Sarada? _

As if on cue, he felt a jolt of movement in his left and right shoulder. Relief washed through him as he recognized the familiar presences on each of his sides.

"...nngh, wh're.." the movement in his left shoulder increased, snuggling to him with a groan. "...Pa...pa..?"

He couldn't open his mouth to utter a single word, so he only grunted in response.

Sarada's voice was quite groggy and he was sure she was uttering unintelligible string of words under her breath— like she was being confused about what happened and why she was on the same position as him.

Does that mean Sarada couldn't see too? Unlike him, she could move her body freely. He could feel her arm digging through his rib. But for Sasuke— it was not really that unpleasant. For him, it was some sort of _relief_. A reminder that his daughter was still with him.

"Where...are we? And why I couldn't see?"

Sasuke's hunch was deliberately correct. He was about to ask her if she's alright when she suddenly blurted out of panic. "Where is my glasses?" she accidentally nudged his rib with her elbow frantically, causes Sasuke to let out a sharp hiss under his breath. The simple accident was left unnoticed by the young adolescent though as she started to ramble, "And why the hell there's a _stinky_ sack over my head? Papa? Where's Nanadaime-sama—"

"I'm here," Naruto's deep voice cut her out of her ramblings. Unlike his daughter, the Uzumaki only lifted himself upright; mumbling a soft apology to him. "Where are we?" he asked to him carefully.

"That's.." Sasuke paused for a second. What would he gonna say? Its not like he knows where they are. "..what I'm not sure of."

"Damn." the Uzumaki cursed softly, which made Sasuke snort inwardly. Its so like him to curse in a middle of nowhere. "I can't move. Can you move?"

"No." he replied honestly and curt.

"Are we been kidnapped like Sakura-chan too?"

Sasuke's lips curled in displeasure. It's a possibility, but he's still not sure. "I don't know."

"And why the hell there's a _sack_ over my head? Are they planning to kill their prisoners by depriving them of air or what?" Naruto huffed in annoyance and then he just recoiled, as if he was thinking about something, "Don't tell me you have a sack over your head too?"

"You're so damn noisy, Naruto." Sasuke tch-ed in slight irritation. "You're rambling."

"You can't blame me!" he argued softly with a hiss, "We have no idea where we are. We're supposed to be finding Sakura-chan— not being kept as a prisoner who's sitting out of nowhere and— oh, _grass_?"

_Grass? _

He tried to move his right arm and was pleased to find that the numbness that he felt earlier had disappeared. His fingers on his right touched the ground warily, finding the smooth and rough edges of what he presumed mowed grasses. His back was hitting something rough and sturdy though. _No doubt, a bark of a tree,_ he mused.

Were they stucked on the Cursed Forest? Does the ritual failed? If that's so, then where's Hamura?

"Do you think Rikudo Sennin's brother succeeded?"

"..."

Honestly, he really doesn't know. And he hated himself being so uncertain.

_**"Finally!"**_

They all froze at the approaching voice. Their shinobi senses were now full alert and attentive as a sound of heavy footsteps trudged all the way in their direction.

_**"You three are now awake. Good!"**_

Sasuke's perfect eyebrows scrunched in contemplation. The voice was kind of feminine (an obvious indication that the owner was female). Her brusque tone was full of wariness, and it has this kind of _cockiness_ that he doesn't like at all. He couldn't understand anything, nor the _unusual lingo_ she just uttered. It made them clueless— _dumbfounded_ even. Silence filled the air as the three of them were rendered speechless, yet they braced themselves alert— ready to sprung at any moment of attack.

_**"State your names and status... Who sent you here?"**_

The trio didn't say anything nor they move in their position. In a beat of silence, the unknown female drawled out a long annoyed sigh. Mumbling unintelligible weird words under her breath that was foreign in their ears.

_**"Thought so..." **_With a dramatic roll of eyes, the unknown woman drawled out an annoyed huff. A few moments later, the offending object on their heads disappeared in an instant (along with the suffocating ropes around their poor wrists) with a snap of fingers. Sasuke, Sarada and Naruto blinked in utter surprise and consternation. The unknown woman was eyeing them with a serious look as she points her index finger at the three of them, murmuring a weird jargon once again; like an _incantation_ and then—

"I _repeat_." In a mix of recognition and befuddlement, Sarada and Naruto blinked owlishly at the woman— as their sensitive ears found the gist of her demanding, interrogatory tone. "State your names and status. Who sent you here?"

Silence.

"_What_? You still cannot understand me? My trick didn't work?" the woman said in complete disbelief, as she shook her head making her snow-white mane billowed behind her like a cape. "Look, I'm not really that _patient_, and I don't have the heart of gold. If you wouldn't talk, then I'll see you as a threat. I don't have a choice but to send you to the dungeons and let you three rot in there."

Sarada and Naruto's eyes widened in alarm while the older Uchiha only eyed the woman impassively— bored even, as if the mere threat didn't scare him in a slightest.

"Don't!" Naruto disagreed as the woman looked at him with a glint of smugness in her deep chromatic eyes. "Hey, we're not bad guys. I assure you, we pose no threat, Miss!"

"You finally talked, huh? That's good." the woman eyed Naruto inquisitively, her deep amethyst eyes flitted to him, to Sarada, and last but not the least to Uchiha Sasuke. "Lad, I cannot _understand_ a single word coming from you." she said with a slight tilt of her head and continued, "No doubt a foreign language from another place.." she paused as she kept on eyeing them unabashedly. "But don't worry, that can be solved."

_**"Cons'ter,"**_ she closed her eyes as she murmured a weird lingo once again. When she's done, her slight mistrustful eyes found the wary faces of the silent prisoners. "Done. Now, _talk_."

"What... the hell was that?" Naruto blurted out, stunned even at the sudden changes that transpired between them and the woman. The unknown stranger— a nameless woman with a striking features that was beyond human; with a hair so white like a blanket of snow— who's speaking gibberish at first, but was now conversing with them like a normal human being would do. "Who are you?"

The unknown woman before them only raised a fine questioning eyebrow.

"If you want to ask me about something, then I may ask you the same question too." she threw them a look of suspicion and continued, "The three of you suddenly _popped_ out of nowhere— here in my _domain_ with unknown magic trails over your heads. So I ask you, _who are you_?"

Naruto's eyebrows shot up in realization. She said they appeared out of nowhere, with these magic trails over them. Then that would mean—

Slightly breathless and inwardly giddy, the blonde Jinchūriki could only ask. "Where are we?"

A flash of irritation filled the woman's face when her only question was been ignored like nothing (like her question was nothing but a damn air), but she answered anyways. "My domain. Kingdom of Elvyra."

_Kingdom of... Elvyra? _Naruto repeated the foreign words inside his mind, quite perplexed at the name itself. _Kingdom? What are we doing in a kingdom? _

"So... we suddenly appeared here in your place?"

"Yes."

"Whose kingdom is it?"

The woman narrowed her eyes at Naruto out of irritation, "For a stranger like you, you sure do ask a lot of questions."

Feeling his patience starting to thin out, he only drawled a sigh— levelling his serious gaze with the woman's mistrustful ones. "It's natural for us to ask a lot of questions. We're lost. We're on a _mission_. And we couldn't let ourselves to waste time, not especially right now."

Naruto's words caught the woman's attention. Her guarded eyes turned to curiosity— she eyed Naruto from head to toe, and then she flitted her eyes to the remaining two next to him.

_Weird choice of habiliments,_ she mused.

The woman was silent for a moment as she continued her unabashed assessment on the three Konoha shinobis. She checked their appearances, from the blonde haired man to the young girl who possessed oriental characteristics, and to the last remaining one who possessed the same features with the child herself.

She couldn't help but to hum in slight appraisal. It was a habit of hers when she see something worth seeing. The man with the blonde hair has this weird three lines on each sides of his cheeks, but it actually complimented his boyish features well, along with his bright yet deep cerulean eyes. And as for the other man..

Unlike with the other orientals that she laid her eyes so far— the man possessed some physical features that it was worthwhile to check at. Striking colors of black accentuated his person so well, that she couldn't help but to agree inwardly of how horribly good looking he is.

And the child, she eyed her with akin to confusion and slight fascination. She was like a carbon copy of the oriental-looking man beside her, except for the feminine shape of her eyes and face.

Understanding finally dawned on her quickly.

"You came from another world," she said, but not in question. Naruto offered a single nod in confirmation and then she continued, her curiosity and thirst for new knowledge was becoming of her. "Is it a guardian who sent you here?"

Naruto's eyebrows scrunched in thought for a moment, as if he was thinking about something important in the deepest corners of his mind. The Ōtsutsukis was indeed powerful beings at his world, both sons of a certain Rabbit Goddess by the name of Kaguya. Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo was a living legend— a god-like figure who's regarded as the ancestor of the _shinobi_. And the second son of Kaguya, Ōtsutsuki Hamura..

_I no longer alive, but I am here for guidance. I'm the one who guard this tree for a millennium._

"Yes," the Uzumaki said in full conviction, "A guardian sent us here to retrieve someone who's causing the disturbance between two worlds." the woman's eyes widened in a fraction at this revelation, but he still continued. "The guardian of my world told us that we need to seek the guardian of this world. We need that guardian's help to—"

"I'm the guardian." the woman confessed curtly, earning surprised looks from Naruto and Sarada.

"From the royal family of elves, my name is Arethia. I'm the guardian who guards the Tree of Knowledge right behind you." the three Konoha shinobis immediately turned their heads behind— seeing the same tree that Hamura guarded all the way back to the original world; except she called it as 'Tree of Knowledge' instead of 'Tree of Dimensions'. "Tell me all about this disturbance."

* * *

"So your important person was been plucked out of your world to forcefully co-exist in this world, am I correct?"

"...A living person is hardly a flower to be 'plucked', but yes, that's it." the Uzumaki nodded somberly as his face was been etched with a frown. "She got missing for seven months, and we found out that she was been kidnapped by someone who just came from this world."

"Do you know who is it?" Arethia asked.

His frown worsened as he shook his head with a sigh, "No. We don't. We don't know who he is, but Sasuke knows what the man looks like."

"Who is Sasuke?"

"This man next to me. My companion." Naruto said with a slight tilt of his head without looking to Sasuke's direction. "That's Sasuke."

Arethia eyed the said man who only looked back in silence.

"My name is Naruto. And they are my companions— Sasuke and his daughter Sarada."

"Daughter?" Arethia blurted mindlessly, pure surprise was shown in her face as she looked back at forth between Sasuke and Sarada. "She's your daughter?"

"..."

"How old is she?"

"Twelve."

"Aren't you too young for having a daughter?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyebrows in slight confusion and annoyance. "I'm not young. I'm thirty-two."

Arethia animatedly leaned forward at them, looking at Sasuke and Naruto with this all-knowing eyes— assessing them so carefully. Sasuke flinched back a little, while Naruto blinked owlishly whether in confusion or amusement— he doesn't know.

"Why the sudden interest now?" Naruto commented carefully, looking at the woman with hidden suspicion in his eyes. "To tell you the truth, I have a budding family of three whereas Sasuke has two."

Seemingly stupefied beyond belief, Arethia could only purse her lips in consternation with arms crossed. "Well, it hardly looks like. Just look at yourselves." she pointed her chin to them in specific, "You two doesn't look at his thirties at all."

Somewhat confused at the baffling insinuation, Naruto couldn't help but to cast a side-way glance to his friend who's being silent once again, with his back leaning on the tree with an air of nonchalance.

But then he suddenly froze, cerulean eyes widening in a fraction as he slightly gape at the non-plussed Uchiha. There was wrong. Something was really really _wrong_.

"Sasuke?" Naruto found himself staring at him with a stupefied expression. The said man only grunt in acknowledgement without giving him any spare glance.

"What?"

"This is impossible. No way." he said in utter disbelief.

Somewhat slightly annoyed and confused, Sasuke finally turned his head to meet the very surprised face of Uzumaki Naruto. But then, the sight of a certain blonde— or his _change of appearance_ per se— surprised him as well. If he were to be honest, it was not the _thing_ that he really anticipated to see on a broad daylight afterall.

The infamous whiskers was still there, the hair was still the same— the clean cut blonde of his was neatly kempt, but he utterly looked so _young_ that Sasuke need to blink and stare for a long time just to make sure he was not hallucinating or something.

It's because Naruto, his long time sworn friend looks like he was the old representation of his own mid-twenty year old self—_twenty five or twenty six or younger,_ he concluded— that he swore if he didn't knew about his real age, then he would simply consider that he was around at that age bracket.

"Papa," Almost forgetting his daughter's presence in his left, he felt a new tug in his other arm— almost sending some familiar yet unfamiliar feeling in his belly. The tugging was still there, while Sarada was eyeing his left arm in her hands with shock and confusion. "Your... arm." she said breathlessly as she looked at him in complete awe, studying his features with a gape expression, "You look different."

He couldn't believe what he was seeing in his both eyes. His left _arm_, he almost eyed it with complete disbelief. How the hell did that happened? He's not only appalled at Naruto's altered appearance; but his arm, his _left arm_ to be exact— was visibly there, free from amputation, with the bandages left askew in wrong places.

_How did that really happened?_

His eyes fell on the frame of his daughter. He found that Sarada's appearance didn't change at all. The hair was still short, her hitai-ate was still intact— with her bangs neatly tucked on the side. She was looking at him in a calculating manner, as if she was assessing him carefully. With a slight knit on her forehead, it didn't take Sasuke for too long to connect the pieces right away.

She doesn't have her glasses with her. But she was looking at him like she was seeing with _different eyes_.

Her hand reached out over his face as she moved his long bangs out of the way— revealing his always concealed left eye for the world to see.

"Your left eye.." she murmured in slight fascination, still eyeing his face in wonder. "It's no longer purple."

She could now see clearly, that's for sure. Without the need of glasses this time.

"You can now see clearly without your spectacles." the older Uchiha commented softly.

With a sharp intake of breath, Sarada's eyes widen in realization— as if the mere notion really surprised her beyond belief.

Sasuke moved his newly acquired arm, flexing his long lithe fingers in a groping motion. It felt really surreal for him. He could feel the almost _forgotten_ familiar flex of his arm muscles, contracting in a way that he almost missed how it felt so good in his own.

"This is really bizarre," Naruto muttered in disbelief, "You look young Sasuke... and your arm,"

Not looking up at him, the Uchiha could only reply. "Same goes with you."

This caught the blonde Uzumaki's attention as he turned his head for answer, "What do you mean?"

Flashing Naruto with an incredulous look, Uchiha Sasuke could only tilt his head to the other side with a raised eyebrow. How could be Naruto always so clueless?

"You also have your old arm back, moron. Look,"

Seemingly surprised once again, Naruto whipped his head so fast towards his 'prosthetic arm' that Sasuke swore if Naruto was an ordinary person; his neck would possibly snap. Several emotions played on the Uzumaki's face— from confusion to surprise, to disbelief and to excitement. Like Sasuke, Naruto could only touch his other new arm in a stupefied manner, pinching the normal tanned flesh (until it went red) just to make sure it was not artificial. But before he could voice out his thoughts about his newly healed arm— dread and uneasiness found its path all the way through his gut, feeling _that_ familiar uncomfortable twist; a _sign_ of agitation that he always despised to feel whenever he's hella anxious of **something**.

Something's missing. And he already knew it.

He no longer feel Kurama's bubbling ball of energy. And most importantly— he couldn't feel the flow of power in his veins, or the surge of _that_ warm, familiar natural energy on his body.

His unlimited storage of chakra is nowhere to found. He couldn't feel the familiar flow of his **chakra** anymore.

By turning his head to the white-haired elf who's looking at them with both curious and inquiring eyes. He could only shook his head as he drawled out an agonizing shaky sigh. Headache was starting to get loose, he could just feel it.

_For Sakura-chan._

"I think," he started as he turned his head on his sworn-bestfriend's direction who already caught what's going on with his muddled mind, "we will be powerless starting from now on." he said with a humorless laugh. "I guess, we have no choice but to start from scratch once again eh, Sasuke?"

* * *

The first thing that he noticed when he looked up was the woman's strange gaze.

While observing her out of instinct and curiosity, Sasuke could only stare dubiously at the unusual expressions reflected on her much expressive face. From curiosity to scrutinizing, doubtful to serious— and then suddenly it turned into _thoughtful_ (judging from the lost creases on her once furrowed eyebrows) as if she was thinking about something. The thoughtful expression of hers then vanished as it turned into hopeful, and in a second— it changed to _gloom_. A soft frown just marred her face, concealing her once multiple display of expressions with an obvious indifferent mask.

What is the woman thinking?

Suspicion started to claw at him as he observed discreetly for any new changes of expressions, or some body language coming from her.

"I guess you'll need my help," she said casually, her once indifferent face softened in an instant— making it more approachable and _kind_. "I need to make sure no one in this world, nor my _kind_ will ever know about your presence. Sending people willingly to other worlds is considered **taboo**, not unless it was been permitted by the guardians itself. A valuable exchange will be done in order to compensate with it. I believed you sacrificed your _power_ to be sent here, yes?" with Naruto's single nod, she only continued. "Then my first advice would be—"

"...?"

"—you need new personas to hold on during your stay in here. A new image, a new name to blend in."

Naruto's eyes widened in a fraction, altogether with Sarada who's only listening to them converse for the whole time.

"You need my help and please worry not," Arethia said in a coaxing manner, "I'm going to help you retrieve your friend. We all know its not easy, but I know you're adamant on finding her. We're in this together, don't you think?"

Sasuke frowned inwardly, he was starting to get the hint and notice the hidden agenda within her statement. He threw a quick glance at Naruto, but Naruto was too occupied with Arethia's explanation to observe what's wrong with the woman's body language. He could only sneer in displeasure at the display. Way to go for his long time rival to be so engrossed and too trusting for a mere stranger.

_So much for being a Hokage, Naruto is really an idiot. _

"—Before I became a guardian, I was been told that it was our utmost job to guard the tree. We can open doors between worlds but," she paused for a moment, looking at Naruto and continued, "it was an essential secret to never mention what a guardian's role was. In order to protect the hidden power of the said tree— we said this to no one in particular."

_If that's so,_ Sasuke could only wonder in disbelief, _then why the hell she was telling this? _

_Look underneath the underneath._ He could hear Hatake Kakashi's infamous phrase rang in his ears. _Read the hidden meanings within the hidden meanings._

"—and opening the doors to the other worlds is okay if it was been done by the _guardians_. But by forcing an entry between two planes of existence is likely **forbidden**."

Feeling himself getting impatient, Sasuke could only grunt in curt affirmative as he looked at the woman blankly. "Looks like you take your role well to utmost importance. For Naruto, that was entirely _admirable_." he forced himself to bit back a rol1 of eye, "But we need to move forward quickly in order for us to succeed. What can you say?"

Sasuke swore he saw an unbidden anger flashed through the woman's amethyst eyes— but in a second, the look was gone and was been replaced with a look of acquisition when she only nodded in agreement at him.

"Understood. First, I'm going to give you a name, all the three of you."

She stared at the three of them for a moment. Eyeing each of them in a calculating manner.

Silence filled the place and that was the cue for the elven creature to continue. Arethia pointed her index finger at Naruto and then her finger swiped to Sasuke and Sarada.

"Adalbert, Adelram and Bellatrix." she said monotonously. "Hold that names to yourselves until the last day of your stay here in my world."

* * *

**Cons'ter**\- is the Old English of the word **"construe"**, which means to _interpret_; _make sense of_; _assign a meaning to_.

**Adalbert (Noble Bright/Noble Shining)**\- derived from the words **"adal"** which means _'noble'_, and **"berht"**, which means _'shining or bright'._

**Adelram (Noble Raven/Noble Dark)**\- derived from the words **"adel"**, which means _'noble'_, and **"hraban"**, which means _'dark or raven'._

**Bellatrix (Female Warrior)**\- derive from the word **"bella"**, _bellum_ (plural) meaning _'war'_ as well as _'beautiful'_— while **"trix"** is a feminine suffix.

* * *

_**A/N: And that was the chapter seven, guys. Sorry if it was quite boring and such but it was the trio's long awaited arrival on the other world. I introduced another character on the last part, which it was my friend's OC on D&D. I won't gonna spoil you, but Arethia plays a big role in this story, and she will likely appear in the future chapters.**_

_**Now that the Konoha trio was already in the other world, expect lots of new characters to be introduced. The not-so-long awaited moment will be in the next chapter. The missing maiden will finally appear! Now, who do you think would that be? *wiggles eyebrows***_

_**And the names, did you find it weird? Well, hahaha I didn't gave that names out of a whim. Their names has its own significance, and I just thought that it fits their characters oml please agree with me. Hahaha. **_

_**I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. **__**Don't forget to review, guys. I would be so happy to see your reviews no matter how small it would be. See you in the next update~**_

_**Constructive criticism is also open. You're free to leave suggestions and you can ask me about it too. **_

—_**SpringfieldOfCherryBlossoms **_

_**(10-27-19)**_


	9. Chapter VIII

_**A/N: Happy new year everyone! Sorry for not updating for absolutely two months. Many things happened and well, many problems have piled up. My Dysthymia had kicked in once again and I couldn't even think straight on what to do with my self. I want to write so badly, but I suddenly got lost the motivation due to the fact that I really couldn't think straight nowadays and I always struggle with these shit and all I could think was that "Why I'm not so good enough?" and yadda yadda. Uni is also being harsh to me, pressuring me with the acads; as well with the OJT finances and many more. (╥﹏╥)**_

_**I wanted to thank mayrapatkitty, reiko07 and felina12 for being such a supportive readers, they left me a heartwarming reviews on the last chapter and I'm so ecstatic that you liked my story so far. Bleach power, Son-AbyGC, ILoveSxS (I know you. You're with me from the very first chapter omg I love you so much, thanks for supporting me in every chapter), Guest 1, Guest 2— thank you very much for leaving some reviews. I love you all, you're the best. *cries at the corner***_

_**So enough with the very long author's note. Here we go. I'm not gonna spoil y'all even more and it's up to you to find out what I've stored in this chapter huehuehue-**_

_**Thanks a lot to my friend Verona Blithewind for fixing this chapter for me, love you so much my homie. uwu**_

_**I do not own Naruto and its characters, but I owned the OCs (except for Arethia) and then the crazy weird isekai plot. **_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

**Oxburg**

* * *

It was quarter to eight in the morning when the royal laborers bustled all over the castle, doing their own respective chores. Chamber maids was running back at forth as they prepped and changed the sheets in each rooms, while other maids were fussing over the huge paintings as they cleaned. Some were preoccupied on wiping the huge glass windows, while the rest did their best to mop the floors.

In one's perspective, the scenario was nothing extraordinary—it was normal, and it's likely to happen everyday.

"Bethany! Come over here!" An older maid called out, holding a wooden bucket filled with water in her right arm while the other was waving at the younger maid. "Help me clean this area, please!"

"Yes, coming!" The sound of sloshing water and scrubbing hard walls and floors reverberates over the place in such synchronized manner.

While the working maids was busy with their tasks in cleaning, the head cooks were also busy working on with their menu. Other inferior workers such as scullions; scuffled from place to place, doing their best to lessen the cooks' burden by doing the menial tasks. They prepped those lavishing eating utensils, making sure to place them one by one over the grand table neatly.

While the palace was completely bursting with life, a fresh-from-bath maiden found herself being positioned in front of a mirror. It was not something that she minded at least, for it was her everyday routine; to wake up, bathe, dressed, eat, yadda yadda and _repeat_.

It has been that long that she continuously work with the everyday cycle of her life. She couldn't even count the days nor the months that already passed from the moment she stayed in the castle. With an unenthusiastic yet demure glance over her new attendants, she could only stare at them as they do their best to pamper her and fuss over her outfit; arguing about what color she needed to wear for the morning.

"I preferred moss green for the milady," said the brunette maid, presenting a pretty long dress in front of her, "this will compliment her skin tone even more, don't you think?"

The other maid with the dark blonde hair shook her head in disagreement. "It's a pretty dress, but I don't think that would suit her." she held the royal purple gown, assessing it with her own calculating eyes. "A dark color like this is _regal_, a brandishing color that fits a royalty. It will compliment milady's unique hair color."

"But what about this one? This will compliment her eyes more. A jade color will make her more ethereal, emphasizing her beautiful emerald eyes as well her carnation hued hair. Like a _wood nymph_."

The blonde maid could only purse her lips in deliberation. "But crimson red will also fit her too."

"That's a striking and provocative color. _Majestic_, even." the other maid commented with a pleased hum, but her brown eyes caught the attractive gown next to the crimson ones. "But look at this dress, it has gold laces and it bares the shoulders too. What about maroon?"

While blinking owlishly, the pinkette could only stare at them in a blasé manner, forcing herself to bit back a sigh but she failed. Her momentary sigh of helplessness was unnoticed by the two maids of course. If only they knew what's her _preferred_ color then maybe they wouldn't fuss like this at all.

_I couldn't blame them, they're new afterall_, she thought with a sigh.

The door of the luxurious room opened for a moment, until a certain maid, with curvaceous figure appeared. Short curly mocha tresses was neatly groomed, absolutely framing the soft feminine features of a twenty four year old woman with a set of matching honey-brown eyes. When she entered, she peered up at the much younger maids, who's too engrossed comparing a yellow dress to a peach colored dress, as she tilt her head out of confusion at the display. The busty woman could only shake her head in complete apology to the helpless pinkette, trudging forward to make her presence more apparent.

"Milady doesn't like brighter colors." she commented, making both maids to straighten up as they looked up at her in surprise. "She preferred simpler dark colors."

The two maids lowered their heads in embarrassment. "Apologies, milady. W-we could've known your preferred choice of clothing!" the brunette maid squeaked, bowing humbly along with the second maid beside her.

The pinkette could only smile in understanding as she shook her head in muted response.

"I will take over here... Do what you must outside with the others."

"But milady's choice of habiliment..?"

"Worry not, leave that to me." the older maid assured them.

After the two maids nodded, they excused themselves out of the room, leaving the two occupants.

"Siesta." she greeted with a pleased smile.

"Apologies, milady. Martha and Emma was not informed about your personal preferences yet," Siesta humbly bowed her head out of shame. "I hope they didn't do something foolish, let alone displease you?"

If she were to be honest, it unease her a little bit of being fussed over by her new attendants. At first, she swore they stared unabashedly at her from head to toe (maybe intrigued by her unusual hair color). _A little bit rude and unnerving_, she thought mindlessly. But aside from that, she could tell that they were being too excited to help her pick what to dress up. They even do their very best to please her, even giving her countless of compliments— making her slightly flustered all over the process.

"No, they didn't. It's not a big deal at all. I don't mind, at all." she said in reassurance, smiling at the maid. Her eyes spoke in understanding. "It's my first time seeing them, and they seemed surprised seeing me as well. They even thought I was a _fay_, and I have to convince them a lot of times that I was a _real person_ before they could spout nonsense about a pink haired nymph lounging carelessly on a dark room." she couldn't help the light chuckle as she reminisce the whole scenario again, making the other woman laugh as well.

"I couldn't blame them, milady. Your unearthly, physical appearance could've really fool a person at first glance. They might as well take second or triple glances just to make sure they saw the real thing." Siesta arranged the dresses back on its position, giving her a wide toothy smile as she held a beautiful black dress with a white off-shoulder long flowing sleeves. "This?"

She could only nod in agreement as she put the dress on with the help of Siesta. The dress snuggly fit her figure like a glove, making her curves more apparent without the help of those agonizing very tight shapewears that every woman (like her) despised. _Corsets_, she thought with a grim expression, _it's a good thing I managed to persuade them not to force me to wear those maddening girdles. _

The dress was simple, not too flashy in the eyes— yet it was undeniably elegant. It has a black criss-cross lace at the chest part with several ruffles adorning on its sides. The sleeves has also some frills and it was even long enough to swallow her whole arms.

Siesta eyed her appreciatively from head to toe as she adjusted the few laces adorning her chest, pulling at the long piece of cloth until her dress gets tighten at her chest area— accentuating her bosom perfectly, making them more fuller and plump under her outfit.

Her hips flared ostentatiously along with the skirt of her long dress clinging to her small waist. The busty attendee made her sit in front of a vanity table, fingering her long pink tresses as she combed it with such gentleness that incredibly soothes her; making her sigh inaudibly in her seat.

Siesta started to make her hair; making a waterfall braid with her nimble expert hands. When the maid was done grooming her pink tresses, she reached over the table for the lip balm and she applied it to her lips for the last finishing touch.

With a kind smile, Siesta could only admire her with a bated breath. "You're really beautiful, milady. Such beauty as yours is an absolute head turner." she grinned teasingly which made her shook her head with a light chuckle.

"Ridiculous," she replied with a sheepish smile as she eyed the maid through the mirror's reflection. "It's all just because of my _hair_."

"Correction," Siesta interjected her politely as her eyes twinkled, full of wonder. "_unparalleled_ distinctive features. Not only the eye and hair color was intriguing, but also the soft contours of your face. You look unworldly, milady."

"Well, that's—"

"Now, that makes it more difficult for men to resist your beauty." she commented thoughtfully and hummed to herself, as if the answers of her problems has been solved. "I remembered my mother saying about '_the uncommon attracts the crowd_', and I do agree with her." she placed her feminine hands on her shoulders and leaned forward, looking back at her on the mirror with a warm smile. "Look at yourself, milady. You're strikingly gorgeous. Your skin is fuller, porcelain, and unmarred. You look _noblesse_."

She still continued to speak like a soft spoken polite parrot, as if nothing could stop her from voicing out her thoughts unconsciously. And that actually bothers the pinkette inwardly, but she didn't say anything out of respect to the woman.

Looking back at Siesta, she only offered a kind smile that didn't reach her eyes but was left unnoticed by the maid herself.

"And milady, they have already arrived— presumably one hour agone. Lady Rochefort is waiting for you."

She stood as she took a last glance towards her reflection. She stared at herself for a whole good thirty seconds and murmured softly. "I look different, don't you think?"

Siesta eyed her mistress for a second, a little bit perplexed at her unusual question but she answered anyways.

"Perhaps. But a good kind of different, milady."

"I see," she could only offer a sincere smile at the brunette and nodded, leaving the room with the busty attendee walking faithfully behind her.

.

.

.

.

"Where is she?" the pinkette asked her as they found themselves walking on the large hallway of the castle.

It didn't took long for the attendee to know what she's looking for. "Lady Rochefort is waiting for you at the antechamber, milady." Siesta answered politely.

Nodding and murmuring a low 'very well' under her breath, she continued her trek all the way to the end of the corridor with Siesta on her tow— spotting two men completely garbed with flashy armors and helmets on their heads and a heavy looking swords being plastered over their hips.

"Good morning, milady." they greeted politely with a small bow of their heads.

"Good morning as well, gentlemen." she answered curtly, "Rochefort?"

"She's behind these doors, milady. Please pass."

They opened the enormous doors at such ease, slowly revealing the beauty of the said room where a certain person waited for her arrival. As she entered the area, she was greeted by the royal ambiance of the waiting room— large expensive chandeliers were dangling on the high ceiling with several royal aesthetic paintings adorning the walls. Luxurious golden couches with soft red cushions was been positioned at the center with a white clothed table near it. Her eyes fell on it, spotting two expensive teacups along with a teapot; and a tray of mouth watering cookies and honey biscuits that didn't took any second for her to notice.

"You're back." her emerald eyes was met with a person who owns a pair of warm hues of cobalt blue, with the eyes who crinkled softly at the sight of her invitingly. "A little bit early than what I expected."

"It didn't take long for us to travel from Tristobal to Oxburg, y'know. Three weeks were a bit too much for a patronage visit," the woman said with a shake of her head, crossing her arms over her average chest as she leaned her weight over the arm cushion of the couch. "How are you, demoiselle?"

She looked at the other woman, "I am doing good, Wilhelmina. I hope you are not tired from your travel."

"Nay, not at all. I slept enough— have tons of energy here with me, so rest assured."

The woman named Wilhelmina, a woman in her mid-twenties who ties her copper blonde hair with her own trademark chignon hairstyle, adorned with an elegant white feather hair pin. She was two inches taller than her, with an aristocratic features and a body figure that demands finesse and elegance. She wore a long sleeved dark green tunic (with a gold leaf brooch pinned above her left chest) that stopped below her thighs with a brown leather belt encircling above her hips. To add with a finishing touch— she was wearing a fitted brown trousers that hugged her toned legs like a glove and a knee-length boots as her footwear.

"You didn't feel lonely while we're gone, are you?"

With a shake of her head, she answered truthfully. "No,"

"But?" Wilhelmina questioned in a probing manner.

Sakura could only shrug a little, looking at the other woman with a small quirk of her lip. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Aren't you too hard to press for answers? Still playing mysterious and secretive, aren't we?" Wilhelmina stood straightly this time as she said not unkindly, flashing her a small cheeky smile which made Sakura to return it whole-heatedly.

"Women are naturally secretive. You know that." she quipped back with a smile, earning a soft chuckle from the woman.

"If you say so." her chuckles died right away but her smile was still pinned on her beautiful face, "Well, that's good to hear then, but don't be so surprised about our early arrival. It was expected. Today is a special day."

"Special day?" she parroted her words in question.

The woman nodded at her, "It's the late King's birthday."

"Oh."

"Yes. But I don't think that's the only reason why he's so very adamant on arriving early. I swear to the heaven's name, I couldn't bear Len—"

"Tsk, enough with that."

A new voice cuts her off, more lower and larger in tone compared to their feminine ones. An obvious indication that it came from the opposite sex, a voice of a matured man. Despite of the lower vibrato, he was soft spoken with the way he articulate words with his tongue.

"Lennard," Sakura called out softly as she looked up to meet his much darker green eyes. Lennard, the man who appeared in the middle of their conversation smiled boyishly at her— revealing small dimples in the corner of his mouth, making him more attractive as ever with his rebellious wavy brown locks on display.

As always, he looked so representable as ever. Wearing his usual formal garb under his pristine long white coat with several trinkets here and there that indicates him belonging from the house of royalty. She knew that under his long coat, a few badges were pinned immaculately in his person; as well his family's proud emblem.

If she were to be honest, until now, she still contemplates with everything, especially with her own life and identity. She didn't even know where her roots came from, she didn't even know if she has a family. She can't recall everything, she can't _remember_ anything at all. Heck, everything was a _blur_ to her. But she always has this weird nagging thought at the back of her head, wherein it was telling her that there was something _amiss_; a huge void of her life that was still left unsolved and searching.

The man only eyed her with a knowing look, as he tilt his head to the side in complete amusement.

"What a nice welcome greet." he murmured with a charming smile while looking at her, "You stare at me too much this time, my fair Catharinus. Is there something wrong on my face?"

_Catharinus_

It was him, the man who sheltered and protected her in his castle, who made sure to provide all of her needs and keeping her company whenever she feels lost to herself (even though he makes her uncomfortable most of the time). Aside from Wilhelmina, he seemed rather protective towards her— also giving her these weird soft glances, spoiling her with everything he sees so and many more.

It was also him— the second prince of Oxburg, who's also the second in line of the royal family of Branwen. The one who found her seven months ago, and the one who insisted that her name was Catharinus.

Lennard Jean Wilhelm von Branwen

The man who pledged to her gallantly at the first time they met— with her on a bed with no any recollections of her birthright, and him who looked so eager and _committed_.

_"...In the name of almighty Albriech, I, Lennard Jean Wilhelm of the Branwen family will do solemnly pledge to protect and cherish this woman until eternity."_

For a mere stranger to pledge in front of her might be so shocking as it is. The prince was strangely adamant about it, but she never mentioned any about her own confusion in regards to that.

But seriously.. to protect her from what?

* * *

After that fated arrival, the trio had learned many things at their stay in the Kingdom of Elvyra. With the help of Arethia herself and with a span of two days— she educated them as much as possible, filling them with information about the "world" they situated in. She even devised a whole list about their new identities, so that when people started to question about where their origins came from— they know what to answer immediately as to avoid unnecessary suspicion.

Arethia was very helpful and really accommodating with their needs, but the elder Uchiha still took his precautionary steps (say it was a part of the habit, but Sasuke is a _shinobi_, and it will be forever _engraved_ into his mind to be cautious; with chakra or none at all) and was still wary towards her. Just like them, the woman started to choose her words very carefully— really tactful and quick to glance at their expressions when she says something; which it was not a main problem for them to school their features with the best indifferent mask (because even though they were powerless and chakra-less this time; they were still shinobi at heart) and they carry on with the mission like the perfect professionals they are.

If Arethia noticed about their somewhat closed and cautious behavior, she didn't say anything at all. Just like them, she was being cautious towards them as well.

However, despite the-somewhat-obvious mistrust between both sides, she was being professional enough and compliant to help them as much as possible. She gave advices, either it may be personal or for their missions. She was not even selfish to educate someone, especially if it was for their own good.

_"Oxburg. Go to Oxburg."_

The trio already found themselves travelling once again. After being groomed by the white haired elf, she gave them enough expenses for a few weeks and she advised them to spend it wisely which to Naruto's sheepish grin and a comment of: _"It's not like ramen exists in this place, we'll spend it carefully."_ and Sasuke could only snort while his only daughter laughed and Arethia blinked comically at him, as if telling: _"What are you talking about?"_.

After an hour of walking on foot in the wilderness of the Green Country— they finally spotted an exit and Sarada excitedly pointed out, grinning. "Look! I can finally see the road!"

By returning Sarada's enthusiasm with his own, Naruto flashed a toothy smile and replied, "Uh-huh, finally."

Ignoring both of her companions, the aloof Uchiha patriarch continued his walking pace while the other two followed his trail. Several moments later, they finally stepped out of the wilderness. Sarada assessed the place with rapt interest with her new twenty-twenty vision (sans the red spectacles) as her gaze fell downwards— seeing the beautiful landscape of a large town that it was totally reminiscent of her own village. _Minus the modernized and very tall buildings_, the young Uchiha thought wistfully as she felt a little pang of homesickness within her. Naruto, who's attention was also caught by the beautiful wide scenery of the unknown town, only peered below just like Sarada; totally immersed by watching the little figures of people like they were some sort of ants, doing their errands and so on.

After admiring the view, the trio continued their silent trek as they followed the only road that it would take them all the way down to the town. The road was not that steep and it was wider enough to accommodate people and any sort of vehicles. For not so long, Sasuke's heightened sense of hearing caught a sudden screech of wheels which made him halt altogether with Sarada and Naruto. Glancing at his other companions, it showed in their expressions that they've heard the same thing as well. Trying to track down the noises with their heightened senses, an unknown gruff and harsh voices somewhere far down below the road caught their attentions, altogether with a few clangs and bangs on a solid object that made them wince slightly; especially Sarada.

"...what a nice present you have here for all of us, old man."

"P-please, let us pass. Those barrels needed to be delivered this day and—"

"Hm?" the voices got clearer to the three Konoha-nins as they followed the voices below, spotting a merchant wagon and two incapacitated middle-aged men kneeling on the ground with ten roguish males sneering down at them. "Sad to say, but you cannot deliver this anymore, old man."

They stealthily hid themselves away before one of the roguish looking men could spot them. Naruto turned his head to Sasuke's and muttered lowly in disbelief. "Road thieves?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, "More like it."

The blonde Uzumaki could only sigh out of exasperation as he voiced out, "Really now? I was actually hoping that we avoid violence as much as possible. What if these men uses magic, and I'm sure as hell it'll have our asses getting kicked. We're utterly defenseless."

Sasuke shook his head once as he continued to observe the group of men bullying the two merchants while robbing off their wagon. "I doubt it."

Naruto lightly snorted and muttered, "Humor me, teme."

"They doesn't look like magic wielders," Sarada commented, mirroring her father's scrutiny towards the group of men. "They look scrawny and pathetic," this suddenly earned her two incredulous and somewhat amused looks from both Nanadaime and her father, and she lightly coughed— trying to tamper down her own embarrassment by talking out her own opinions, "They have common weapons over their hips and their... _unremarkable_ muscular builds were an obvious indication that they were only ordinary men who doesn't have any proper training. I mean... to cut the story short; they look common thugs for me."

Naruto chuckled lightly, much to Sarada's embarrassment— which made her cheeks to redden more. "I forgot we have another one who has remarkable observational skills." he said warmly at the flustered pre-teen and he turned his attention back to the silent Uchiha. "So what's the plan, Sasuke?"

_Shirk! _

"Oh,"

Before Sasuke could voice out his plans for their next move, their attention was back to the current situation once again. They heard a sound of some spillage, slapping towards the ground with their sensitive noses caught the whiff tangy scent of wine.

"What is it?" the other thief asked, looking at his somewhat excited companion digging his sharp dagger over a wooden barrel.

"Mmm.. Aren't we so lucky? This is not an ordinary plonk, boss!"

The cowered merchant on the ground eyed the barrels in great alarm as he tugged mercilessly on the so called "boss" of the group. "I-I beg you, please don't touch them. They are for the—"

"Shut up!" the boss quickly grab the old man by his collar harshly while his other hand quickly unsheathed a sharp dagger over his hip, "Or I'll _kill_ you."

The old man nervously gulped when the sharp edge of the dagger touched his cheek as the boss started to taunt him. "Scared of dying, old man? Why can't you remain silent like your companion beside you? He's more obedient," he kicked his companion straight to his gut which made the man to topple carelessly over the ground with a pained grunt, "and it looks like he valued his life compared to you."

"S-Sir!" the old man called out to his companion who can only do grunt sounds under his breath.

"I'm...fi—_guh_—" his companion winced in complete agony when the boss stomped his heeled boot over his flank; as if he can't get enough of making him suffer.

"Stop talking you piece of shit!" he bellowed.

"Boss! Don't scare the damn horses!" said by another thug who tried his best to make the animals calm down with his touch, "You scare them off then we'll lose the wagon if they wishes to bolt out."

The boss only sneered as he eyed his other goon, maliciously. "What about I'll slit your throat instead, you imbecile?"

The sound of several daggers being unsheathed from the scabbards was welcomed to the silent black-clad three strangers who's finally getting out of their hiding place. The thugs' attentions and their sharp weapons were trained on them warily.

"Oi, stop there!"

"Who the fuck are you!"

"How long have you been spying on us, huh?" the three strangers only stood there motionless, giving them deadpan looks much to the thugs' chagrin, "You'll regret this, wimps." he sneered viciously.

The other thugs scampered all over the road— blocking the means of passage— as they brandished their weapons readily. "Don't let them pass!"

"Boss!"

The leader of the group of thugs tugged his two hostages by their collars not so gently. While he kept his eyes trained towards the three intruders, he flashed them a crook, evil grin.

"Show them no mercy," he said as he took a step backwards with his hostages poorly flanking his sides, "Get them!"

* * *

With the simple order, the goons plunged themselves awfully against the three of them. Nine against three, but the Konoha-nins effortlessly gets the upper hand. Sasuke fluidly incapacitated four thugs without breaking a sweat, as he merely avoided the attacks being thrown out to him and used his new arm to twist another thug and strike him on the back of his neck. While on the other side, Naruto threw basic punches and kicks, immediately finishing the other thugs who attacked him from any directions.

The boss, seeing that his goons were falling uselessly like a heap of dominoes in a span of one whole minute— he could only gape in utter disbelief at the unbelievable scenario. _Nine against two?_ They didn't even do much effort and were so _calm_ as fuck. What in the hilarious heaven's name—

"_Boss_, you forgot about me," Sarada murmured before she flashed in front of the remaining men in such startling speed; much to the merchants' and the leader's shock. She punched the thug leader right straight to the face that she was sure she broke his nose and some of his front teeth as he got thrown back violently— absolutely skidding on a few feet away from them, unconscious. Not minding the slight pain of her knuckles, she turned her head down on the shocked hostages and crouched in front of them. "Please let me help you. We're not going to harm you."

With a slight jerky nod as an affirmation, the poor merchants could only do was look at Sarada as she swiftly slashed the tight ropes around their wrists with the help of the forgotten dagger of the person she just punched a moments ago. While assessing them for further wounds and found none, she offered them a reassuring smile that was been gladly returned by the two middle-aged men. In a few moments of time, her father and the Nanadaime finally joined them after patching the group of unconscious thugs with tight ropes surrounding their wrists and ankles— leaving all of them in a heap of unconscious wimps on the side of the road.

"That was a good punch. You punched him to oblivion. You made us proud!" Naruto said brightly, patting the flustered pre-teen as he then focused his attention to the both elderly men, offering his hands to them. "Let me both help you there." the elders accepted his help and he pulled them up gently with no difficulty, "We're not too late, aren't we?"

The two middle-aged men shook their heads with equal thankful smiles being plastered all over their haggard faces. "No, you do not." said by the first man who's anxious face was now calm and welcome, "We are so very grateful to be rescued from them. I don't think they'll let us live a little bit longer. They're the infamous vicious thugs who ransack travelling merchants on the roads."

A grateful sigh escaped the other man and added, "A wanted group for so many years, don't forget that, Sir. They also kill their victims without remorse. They do not like witnesses." he touched his cheek with the tip of his calloused fingers, remembering the shiny tip of the thug leader's dagger resting over his cheek and he couldn't help but shudder, "I was so very horrified to meet them in person. Worst experience ever, I almost piddled my pants."

"Gentlemen and you young lady," the first man gazed at the three of them with such kindness and relief, "without your help and intervention we would be deemed as cold cadavers at this very moment. We owe you our lives, we very much thank you." he bowed respectfully altogether with his companion who hummed in agreement.

"It's no problem. We're always glad to help people who's in dire need." Naruto said politely as well.

"My name is Oscar Smithfield. I'm a wine maker and a dealer. And this man next to me is my trusted friend and helper, Virgilio. He helps me out with my business."

"My name's Virgilio La Cruz." the man named Virgilio lowered his head out of courtesy.

"I'm Adalbert." Naruto started, remembering his mission and his own alias as well as his other companions too. "And this is Adelram," he pointed to the silent Uchiha and then to the young pre-teen, "and Bellatrix."

Oscar eyed them for a moment, noting their unusual yet obvious outfit for travelling. "Travellers?"

"Yes."

Seeing the silent pre-teen checking over the unconscious thugs, the wine merchant moved his gaze back to the young adults. "No permanent place to settle down yet?"

Naruto scratched his whiskered cheek somewhat uncomfortably, "Sort of?"

_Well, how can we settle down permanently if we haven't find our missing old teammate yet? What if she's on the other side of the world and we settled down to a place who's too far for Kami-knows-where to Sakura-chan's current place? _

"Sir, sorry to interrupt you," Virgilio murmured as he directed his chin to the unconscious thugs and continued, "but I don't think it's wise to leave them here, don't you think? As I know, there's a bounty all over their heads and we're near on the Town of Morgan. The law officers will be so ecstatic if we hand them over there."

"I agree." Oscar nodded in agreement as he walked back to his wagon and eyed the single wooden barrel with some spillages of wine on the road. "It's a waste." he sighed and tossed the wooden barrel on the other side of the road, "But it's a good thing that I've followed your advice, Virgilio. We have a few extras to compensate the wasted single barrel."

"I told you so." Virgilio shrugged casually.

Oscar checked the conditions of his remaining wooden barrels, and when he found that they were fine and untouched— his eyes then fell to Naruto and Sasuke and couldn't help himself.

"Are you two mercenaries?" he asked politely and curiously, but his face was showing them a sort of _hopeful_ expression— which a little bit perplexing to the both of them. _Why is he looking like that? _was the only thing that conjured right away in their minds, not minding the single fact that maybe they both have the same question bugging their minds as of the moment.

Sensing that the both men will not gonna offer him any kind of answer, not unless if he would explain much more why he came into that conclusion; he added, "Well, you fought a bunch of crooks without breaking a sweat. Even though I'm only a merchant, I could see that both of you knew how to fight squarely like it was a nature to both of you. And while I saw you both fighting earlier, I would say you're both very _skillful_..." he trailed for a second, his gaze moving on to the attractive black-haired man who only tilt his head at his direction. "And also, I saw you have a sword, hanging on your person when your cloak flapped as you kicked that thug unconscious."

Silence filled the place, but then,

"We are." Sasuke answered finally, which it didn't took longer for Naruto to get the drill; for he only nodded (both agreement and to support whatever the Uchiha's plan was). "Why do you ask?" Naruto added next to Sasuke's not-so-very-informative answer.

Oscar looked at them in akin to relief, making them much more curious than ever about what he's going to offer them for an answer.

"I know it's very too much for me to ask you, but can you please hear me? I owe you my life and I don't want to leave this place without giving you what you deserve for your own bravery and valiance. If you would please hear this old man, I'll make sure to do my best to help you in your needs and travels."

"To what proposition would it be?" Sasuke asked impassively, eyeing the wine merchant intently to spot any signs of deceit.

But much to the Uchiha's satisfaction, he sensed _none_. The merchant was too genuine, yet he knew how to choose his words well. If they play the cards right today, then _maybe_—

"Please, I need mercenaries to guard me in my travels. I knew how dangerous it was to travel from places to places, and I feel so bad for foolishly denying my niece's constant reminders of precautions in regards to our own safety." Oscar shook his head as he chastised himself by his own foolishness. "We almost killed ourselves today. Please guard us for a week or so until I get to my country safely."

"What country is it?"

"Oxburg, son."

_"Oxburg."_ He could hear the four words that the elven royalty imparted them on their last meeting earlier. _"Go to Oxburg."_

Sasuke could only bit back a victorious smirk of his own. It looks like the _luck_ was on their side afterall.

"Deal." he agreed, absolutely earning some relieved and triumphant expressions from the wine dealer and his helper. Naruto eyed him for a second, but he then nodded in acquiescence.

"Thank you very much for listening to my proposal, son. Our lives is in your hands. Please protect us."

_Bingo._

* * *

They've travelled in unexpected familiarity for a week and a half.

After the bad chance event with the road thieves on the Green Country last week and a half, they found themselves on the Town of Morgan— taking the group of wanted criminals to full custody to the hands of the law enforcement of the said town. Surprisingly, the trio found out that Oscar (Naruto and Sasuke's charge) was very well-known to the town, and by saving the wine merchant from those pathetic group of goons— the certain news of the merchant got hostaged and his sort of "dramatic" rescue (that's public gossip for you) from three foreigners— _two men and a female child who's barely in her teens_ — boomed out all over the place which it resulted to some townspeople about talking and praising them for their bravery and heroism.

Just like what Virgilio had mentioned, the law officers were indeed ecstatic to finally get their hands to the infamous "X Thieves" who's been wanted for absolute five years in two large nations (yes, for that long; the law officers said they were very hard to hunt and just like annoying eels— they were too '_slippery_' to grasp on). If it weren't for Sasuke and Naruto's intervention, there's a high probability that the group will still go rampant to some different places; which means more travelling merchants to ransack and kill thereafter.

Sasuke and Naruto were not only "famous" on the said town, but they were also been rewarded by the town council; a wholesome two bags of thousands of gold coins (where Oscar concluded that it was a good big sum of money, that it could help them for years and more).

After they were done with their endeavor to the Town of Morgan, they started their travel as a team of five. Their travel from other places was indeed new and refreshing for the trio. They met several people— majority of them was Oscar's patrons — and they were kind enough to treat them as new acquaintances. As usual, Naruto's job was to do the socializing, as well as being backed up by the young Uchiha to keep their fake aliases to be more believable— while Sasuke's job was to gain more information so that they can devise plans and go on further with their mission.

Matching obsidian eyes fell to the slumbering pre-teen on his lap. Ever since they have travelled via wagon, his daughter has a new habit of falling asleep on him— which he didn't mind it at all. Sarada's warmth always comforted him, and was effective enough to draw him out of his negative thoughts whenever he's venturing all throughout the memory lane without noticing himself. By softly caressing the mussed raven hair of his slumbering daughter while looking over the small window near him, he couldn't help but to frown momentarily as he thought about where to start on looking for his wife.

He was not an idiot, and he knew about the level of difficulty to track down his missing wife all over the world. If they waste time dawdling and wouldn't put enough much effort to find her, there's a huge possibility that they'll affect the balance between two worlds. The three of them were still fine. Even though they lost their main abilities and chakra— their memories were still fortunately intact. _That is more important, _he mused. Losing memories will do no good. If that may happen, then the three of them will get stuck in this new world as well. The end.

"Have you slept at all?"

His ears perked the moment he heard the raspy voice of one only Uzumaki Naruto, his sleepy half-lidded eyes stared at him for a moment and then he yawned unabashedly even though Sasuke was looking at him.

Not that he really minded it actually.

"Aa," Sasuke responded softly, as to not to wake his slumbering daughter on his lap.

Naruto narrowed his still fresh-from-sleep eyes as he peeked at the wagon's window. _It was now evening yeah_, he thought mindlessly. He was greeted by a busy road full of people, many establishments opened for the customers (from different small restaurants, food stalls, etc.) and more jolly noises and music resonated everywhere. "This totally reminds me of some festivals in our place." the blonde Uzumaki commented, while his other companion only hummed in affirmative.

"But much noisy." Sasuke added.

Naruto couldn't help the chuckle from letting out, "It is. But still, it looks lively and the people seems so happy. Maybe there's an event tonight?"

"Maybe."

"Oh! You're finally awake now, gentlemen?" Virgilio's head came to their view as he peeked to check at them. "Sorry for the noise, but it looks like the people's celebrating about the late King's date of birth."

"Late King's?" Naruto repeated mindlessly.

"Well, yes. The late former King of Oxburg was very well-known to the people here, altogether with his late wife which it was the last Queen." Virgilio explained as he opened the small door to enter their small makeshift room on the wagon. His eyes fell to the sleeping child on Sasuke's lap and his gaze softened, "I see, looks like your little daughter was really that tired, isn't she? Her sleeping position was not that comfortable, I would say."

Sasuke's unconscious petting stopped for a moment as he looked at Sarada's dark mop of head, but he composed himself right away and responded, "She is."

"Don't worry. Just for a few minutes, we'll arrive at our last destination, Adelram. Sweet Bella can sleep on a much comfortable bed when we get arrive."

"Thank you." murmured Sasuke politely.

.

.

.

.

A few minutes has passed and they're finally away from the crowded main road. The wagon stopped abruptly and that was the cue for Naruto and Sasuke to leave the vehicle. Naruto went first and he opened the small door out of courtesy to Sasuke who's carrying a sleeping Sarada in his arms. Gently holding his daughter tight to his chest, he carried himself out of the wagon with Naruto on his tow.

The cold evening air touched them like a caress as their all-assessing eyes fell on the large two-story house with a mini— _yet wide_ —front garden and a porch. The architecture was quite new and foreign to both men, but both inwardly agreed to see how simple yet beautiful it was in its own way.

With a welcoming smile to Naruto and Sasuke, Oscar ushered them to enter his much homey abode— leaving the wagon to Virgilio's hands (to put it to Kami-knows-where) but the two Shinobi was smart enough not to pry about it as for respect for their hosts.

Oscar's handsome tired face suddenly brighten when the door of the house opened, revealing a woman in her five feet and four inches height— wearing a commoners dress with a beige shawl covering her head and shoulders. Thick round spectacles also adorned her much surprised face as she saw the new unfamiliar faces in her front door and then to the grinning face of her uncle.

"Uncle?" she called out meekly, a little bit uncertain.

"Ada! We have guests and they're staying with us tonight!" Oscar opened the door and that's the cue of the woman to move back as he ushered the silent men to come inside. "Adalbert, Adelram, welcome to my home. This woman here is my niece Ada, still single and very much pretty."

"U-Uncle!" the woman named Ada squeaked embarrassingly, bowing her head in polite meekness as she met the eyes of the two attractive men looking at her. "I-I'm sorry about that, my uncle is just too—"

"Don't worry about that." the blonde one with the weird whisker scars on his face said with a polite smile, "Please don't get uncomfortable with us. I'm Adalbert by the way."

"I'm Ada." she blurted out and blushed heavily out of embarrassment as she corrected once again, "Ada Smithfield."

"And he's Adelram," he pointed his thumb to the strikingly handsome individual beside him who's hair and eyes so black that she couldn't help but to admire. She flushed immediately when her eyes met his in a somewhat smoldering stare. "And here's Bellatrix."

"N-nice to meet you, gentlemen."

Sasuke— or Adelram, blinked lazily at the flustered woman who scuffled out of their way like she was avoiding them like a plague. If he found her sudden aversion quite annoying or rude, he didn't voice it out. He was not really bothered at the treatment, for he was being used to it and he doesn't really give a damn about it.

"Come in here, young lads! Ada, don't be so rude and be hospitable. There's a child sleeping and she needs a room." Oscar bellowed inside, somewhere right in the kitchen.

"O-okay!" Ada bowed immediately as excuse, "I'll be going now, gentlemen. If you excuse me."

"...Papa?" Sarada's groggy voice cut him out of his thoughts right away, her tired sleepy eyes met his in a second and looked around in confusion. "Where are we?"

"You're awake. We're finally here in our charge's residence." Sasuke deposited her out of his bridal style hold, helping her stand on her own in silence.

"We'll stay here tonight?"

"Aa."

"Don't you think it's rude to make them wait for us or something? We're still here, stuck like a piece of statue at the entrance?" Naruto commented jokingly.

"Hn. Go ahead. I know you're after for free food." Sasuke moved away to the side to let him pass and rolled his eyes when he saw Naruto's cheeky grin.

"Who doesn't like free food? Admit it, teme. You like free food as well."

He scowled at the grinning blonde idiot, "You wish."

The door closed behind them which made them turn their heads to the new comer.

"Oh, you're still here, lads. Please feel at home." Virgilio's eyes spotted Sarada bending down as she tried to take off her weird sandals out of her feet. "Bellatrix my child, what are you doing? Don't take your sandals off, dear!"

* * *

Meanwhile...

From the depths of sorrows whilst he burrow himself in liquor,

He could feel his blood boiling.

His clenched fingers were itching on his sides, tempting him to reach over his precious weapon on his desk and mutilate everyone right there. He's so livid, very very _livid_ to the point of throwing everything he sees fit against the wall. Broken beer glasses were scattered all over his thick brown carpets— with the strong scent of booze immediately invading his sharp olfactory senses. With a controlled shaky sigh, he plopped himself down on the nearest chair as he tried to calm his agitated nerves once again. While burying his shaking hands all over his dark fiery locks, he tried to keep his irrational thoughts away and fill it with new rational ones.

He knew he's just overexaggerating. With his awful anger issues kicking in, there's nothing that could stop the unbidden surge of paranoia crawling over into his mind and corrupting or dispersing every rational thoughts he's having. Which this resulted to some sudden burst of tantrums, altogether with his bad temper to match— clouding his mind, along with his proud judgment at the same.

He's not going to back off this time. Not ever. If he needed to go there and _sabotage_ everything that mighty pathetic arrogant prince had worked so really hard— then he will gladly do it without skipping a beat.

He'll make sure of it.

"I won't gonna let you prosper, House of Branwen." he vowed intently to himself. "Not ever. I'll make you pay."

He'll _damn_ make sure of it.

* * *

**Some questions that needs to be answered:**

*_**Kingdom of Elvyra.**_ Is the elven kingdom that Arethia's family ruled. And nope, humans cannot enter here not unless someone from the kingdom permitted it. Think of it as a secret haven to Arethia's people (which is the elves; they wanted to be isolated and secured— not wanting to be in between the feuds of human kind), and no one knows about its existence; but common myths do exist from the people about Arethia's kind. This kingdom also resides within the wilderness of this so-called Green Country, where also the Town of Morgan situated in.

*_**X Thieves**_. Their criminal group consists of 10 thugs (Roman numeral; X = 10), now you do the mathematics, the name was too obvious. xD

* * *

_**A/N: That's for chapter eight. I introduced new important characters that will appear most of the time in the future. And I'm planning to introduce more. *snickers* It's still not the long-awaited chapter for Sakura and the trio to meet, but well, they'll come to that I assure you- but not now of course. Please be patient. This actually focuses on the trio looking out for Sakura, and mind you, tracking a missing person to the other world was not very easy. Expect lots of drama, suppressed feelings and frustrations from our favorite trio; as well as the amnesiac!Sakura ufufu. **_

_**So that's it. For the next chapter, expect another lengthy one. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter and see you in the next update, my little dangos! I'm working with a few one-shot stories but they were not finished yet, so please stay tuned~**_

_**Don't forget to review, guys. I would be so happy to see your reviews no matter how small it would be. They motivate me to write more. **_

_**Constructive criticism is also open. You're also free to leave suggestions (by reviews or through message).**_

—_**SpringfieldOfCherryBlossoms **_

_**(01-07-20)**_


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